Unusual Day
by IrredeemableSoul
Summary: If only she was just a little braver, she would say those three words that replay in her head every time she saw him. [ryomaXsakuno]
1. Chapter 1

Unusual Day

This is my first PoT story/one-shot, I'm so excited! XD

Summary: And before he knew it, the Ryuzaki girl had become the only female presence Ryoma didn't mind having around him. It was a peaceful silence, just like always, until the cruel mistress of fate decided to choose today to disrupt it... One-Shot

Pairing: Ryoma/Sakuno

Disclaimer: If I owned PoT...then I probably wouldn't be writing _fan_-fictions...-.-" so ya...I disclaim any and all character used in this fan-fiction.

- - - - - -

The girl fidgeted nervously as her prince walked closer and closer, her cheeks painted with a certain shade of pink. Not many people know it, but Sakuno Ryuzaki has a crush, a huge crush on Ryoma Echizen, the renowned "prince of tennis".

It's been like that since freshman year of junior high. She hasn't changed much now that they're in their first year of high school. Still that quiet, shy, and klutzy girl who's bad at directions, but her prince hadn't changed much either; calm, cocky, rude, with a painfully sharp mouth and the amazing tennis skills to back it all up.

Ryoma Echizen's gained plenty of female fans over the years, Sakuno wouldn't blame him. The little prince had grown up to be a gorgeous young man. His dark green hair was often in an unruly mess, his striking honey-colored feline eyes full of defiance, and he's grown taller, having gone through the awkward stage of puberty. (A/N: AHAHA! I just _had _to bring that up :P) He would be able to melt any girl, no matter how composed, into a puddle had he graced her with his signature smirk. Yes, he's gained many fans..._too _many, but he's never had a girlfriend.

It was a strange relief for Sakuno, not having to see him with any girls within the 3 years that they've known each other.

And so, with the high-pitched squealings of many girls along the sideline, Ryoma approached the front entrance, getting closer and closer as the squealing got louder and louder.

"G-good morning, Ryoma-kun." the young Ryuzaki said, feeling her cheeks heat up, and certainly earning many many jealous glares from other girls.

"Hn." he glanced her way briefly and lazily with his eyes, but that was enough to make her heart skip a beat.

- - - - - -

She was definitely the only person who called him that, "Ryoma-kun", he mused, recalling her greeting this morning. It was a nice break from all the shrill screams of "RYOMA-SAMA!" he hears every single day, it's enough to make his ears bleed and make him lose his hearing..._permanently_. Having thought of that, the prince of tennis shuddered, mentally of course, for he was too _cool _to do that in public.

His senpais and teammates referred to him as Echizen, safe from of course, Kikumaru-senpai, who preferred "Ochibi" or "Ochibi-chan", somewhere along those lines.

"Nya, Ochibi!" Ryoma rolled his eyes, do _not_ speak of the devil, because _he_ _will_ _come._..

Eiji Kikumaru, in his third year of high school, but still as hyper as ever. Ryoma often wondered if his senpai had a great big bowl of sugar for breakfast everyday in the morning, or all three meals, perhaps? He really didn't care.

"Oi! Echizen! Kikumaru-senpai!" Great, just _great, _here comes another one...

"_So..._Ochibi..." the hyper red-head started slyly, "You're very popular amongst the girls, yet you have no girlfriend..."

"Does that mean you want to keep being Ryuzaki-chan's _hero_?" Momoshiro finished their sempai's sentence, evil gleam in his eyes.

This statement earned both older teenage boys a glare from the "baby" of the group. He could not believe the stupidity of his senpai-tachi, who are currently ignoring him and muttering and snickering to each other, saying something about being "so young". _'I guess this is what happens when you don't have a life.'_ he thought to himself. It had been 3 years..._three years!_ And they're still on about that night at the cottage, where Ryuzaki had thanked him for saving her from a burglar that was dressed as a bear.

"20 laps, _now._ For being late." they heard their captain's commanding voice upon reaching the court after changing for after-school practise.

"Hai!" the trio said in unison, not daring to disobey orders.

Tezuka Kunimitsu, in his senior year didn't lack in fan girls either. He had dark brown hair with blond highlights, and one look into his narrow brown eyes behind a pair of sleek frame less glasses will make anyone's knees crumble. Surely, any girl would kill, just to have his eyes linger on her for even just a second.

He was the model student, good at everything he does. He never says anything unnecessary, and when Tezuka Kunimitsu gives an order, no one would disobey, not even the stubborn Ryoma. He didn't have an attitude, he was just calm, collective, serious, yet he had this presence, this unexplainable power over people around him.

Gasping for breath after they've finally finished running, Ryoma returned to the court with his senpais, still blaming them for the late arrival.

"Late again?" a voice called, it was Syuusuke Fuji, known as the prodigy with unlimited potential, his skills only rivaled by the legendary captain and the prince himself. His fairly long light brown hair danced with the wind.

"Fujiko-chan!" Kikumaru whined, "Tezuka-buchou's being mean!" he said before pouting childishly.

At this, the friendly senior chuckled with amusement. Some people just refuse to grow up. The teenage boy wonder always appeared harmless, with his smiley eyes, always wore a grin on his handsome face. However, he opens his eyes on the tennis court, and when he's serious or angered. Those eyes with the color of the deepest, most beautiful sapphire.

The rest of the practice went on as usual. Tezuka watching on the sidelines with hidden amusement. Sadaharu Inui "motivating" the regulars with his latest collection of "Inui Juice". Takeshi Momoshiro and Kaoru Kaidoh, who was nicknamed Viper bickering and picking fights with each other. Takashi Kawamura in his fired up state shouting "BURNING!" and other nonsense in English while having a practice match with Ryoma. The infamous national-level golden pair, consisted of the acrobatic Eiji, and vice-captain Oishi, the so-called "mother hen" of the team was currently playing against each other as well. They never changed, it was just like back in Seishun Gakuen Junior High.

- - - - - -

She waited for him to finish practice, she always did, for 3 years, and then she would walk home with him, sometimes together with Momoshiro-senpai, or Momo-chan, as he favored. So, standing by the gate, she patiently waited, _'Practice today is longer than usual.' _she thought to herself while twirling her auburn locks around her finger. She got rid of the braids just two weeks ago, leaving a wavy mass reaching just above her waist. Everyone had reacted, everyone but the person she wanted a reaction from. She wanted to ask Ryoma, but Sakuno was never brave enough to do that.

Footsteps approached behind her, and she turned just in time to see the prince in all his glory in front of the setting sun; few buttons of his summer uniform were unbuttoned, his hair, in the darkest shade of green, danced in the wind. Hands stuffed into his pocket, the young Echizen walked up casually to Sakuno as she felt a big mass of blood rush to her face.

"R-Ryoma-kun, w-where's Momoshiro-senpai today?" she managed to not faint after seeing him like that.

"Hn," he responded indifferently, "something about being picked up."

"I-I see..."

For a short moment, his sharp eyes fell on her. She had definitely grew up to be quite pretty in his opinion. Though he would hardly ever even admit that to himself. Her little girl braids where gone; wavy, auburn locks took their place, it was still too long for tennis though. Her curves were developing quite nicely-- '_WHAT?'_ he mentally kicked himself for that shameless thought. Oh this is just _perfect..._it seems that his pervert father was finally rubbing off on him.

"A-ano..." she began shyly.

"Let's go." he simply said, and started walking, knowing that she would follow.

So they walked in silence like they often had for three years, over that fairly long time, they had gotten somewhat comfortable with each other. And before he knew it, the Ryuzaki girl had become the only female presence Ryoma didn't mind having around him, besides, of course, his mother and cousin.

It was a peaceful silence, until the cruel mistress of fate decided to choose today to disrupt it. As Ryoma stopped, Sakuno, who was walking behind him, did not notice, therefore bumping into him as she walked, causing her to fall. Having quick reflexes, he turned around and caught her just in time and pulled the delicate girl up.

She was waiting for that impact with the hard pavement of the sidewalk, but instead, it was a strong arm supporting her below the waist and pulling her close to a warm chest. (A/N: You all know this too well...why throw away a classic, hm:P) She blushed furiously as she realized how close they were. Sakuno had never been so close to a boy before, let alone her prince, who was surprisingly warm pressed against her. Her breathing was shallow, her heart pounded madly against her ribcage. Was this a dream?

Realizing that he had held onto her for longer than necessary, he led go. (A/N: Quite reluctantly, might I add...) Watching with amusement as the girl frantically stumbled out a series of apologies. He kept walking, and it was no surprise that she followed.

- - - - - -

So they stood, face to face, at that corner where he would turn right, and she would have to keep walking straight.

"A-ano..." she said, fidgeting once again, "Th-thank you..."

"It's nothing.", "Hn" or a nod would be his usual response, but this had been such an unusual day, and so reaching a hand out, the prince tugged a strand of loose hair behind the girl's ear. To say that she was surprised was a bit of an understatement, she was most likely properly described as "paralyzed with shock" at that moment. His lips tugged upwards into the signature smirk.

That was it...that smirk, she really felt like she was melting. At least five shades of red and pink colored her face. However, nothing could ever, _ever, _prepare her or _anyone_ for what happened next...

They made eye contact, he leaned in...their faces were only a few centimeter apart, that smirk still remained in place amongst his handsome features. She could feel his breath, she could hear his heartbeat...It was surreal, and then, just before their noses made contact, he changed "directions".

"Your hair looks better unbraided." he whispered into her ear, tickling her with his hot breath.

Then, he leaned away swiftly, turned around and started walking towards his residence as if what he did was just a daily routine. Leaving a very dazed Ryuzaki girl behind, the young tennis legend waved goodbye behind his back. Feeling rather satisfied this day.

Hearing what he said was more than enough to saturate her with fulfillment, it was exactly what she wanted to hear for the two longest weeks of her life.

Unseen to the lovestruck girl, two snickering high schoolers hid behind the wall having watched the whole scene...Their Ochibi-chan was going to have to endure an enormous amount of teasing from two certain senpais tomorrow, surely about being "so young".

- - - - - -

"Oi!" Nanjiroh Echizen called out lazily, face hidden behind his "daily newspaper" (A/N: hint, hint...), "You're late today, my dear son...Were you with a _girl?_" the old man asked pervertedly.

Any other day, the old hentai would have earned himself a severe beating from his 15-year-old son. But today, Ryoma surprised even himself, deciding to humor the Samurai.

"Yes, oldman, I met a girl on my way here and she _took me home._" he stated.

His head snapped up from his precious "articles", his eyes sparkled with tears, Nanjiroh ran up to his son, and held onto his two hands.

"My son! My precious son! I have _never_ been so proud of you in yours or my whole life...!" he said dramatically, tears running like waterfalls down his face.

Seeing this reaction, the younger Echizen was more than satisfied, his lips curved up into a smirk, wishing he had a camera to capture his father's embarrassing moment.

"You gullible dumb ass! I was just messing with you." he walked off.

"Got me to stand up for nothin'." he sighed, then walking back to his original spot and sitting down before he got back to his "reading".

'_Messin' around or not...he sure seems happier than usual...'_

_- - - - - - **The End...?**_ - - - - - -

I'm considering making this into a story, or a series of unrelated one-shots. What do you think?

Whew...that was the longest thing I've ever written, chapter or one-shot...

Did Ryoma seem overly OOC? Please review to tell me how ya liked it! XD


	2. Chapter 2

Unusual Day

I've decided to continue this for the sake of all of my wonderful reviewers! Therefore making this a full-blown story, and I won't change the title, because it's got its purpose in the end...-wink wink-

I've gotten such good feedbacks...It's amazing!

So, I'd like to give special thanks to all of my reviewers!

Thank you very much for your support!

And I apologize for all those A/Ns in the middle of the story...I guess they were pretty annoying, especially when you're reading...sorry.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Prince of Tennis characters...I wish I did though...Sooo many cute guys...T.T LOL...

Now, I shall duct tape my mouth shut and get to the story...

------

_8:05 AM_, the numbers on the digital clock glowed a dim red light. The girl was lying wide awake upon her bed, not being able to get a blink of sleep for almost 6 hours. Undoubtedly, Sakuno was thinking of a certain Ryoma Echizen, and what had happened yesterday after school.

"_Your hair looks better unbraided."_

When she heard those words, she felt an unexplainable happiness. However, it wasn't just what he said, it was the way he said it, whispering it in her ear like that, Sakuno's cheeks turned pink just thinking about it.

Sure, thousands of girls would probably kill to be in his presence, they're completely obsessed with their "Ryoma-sama". However, Sakuno Ryuzaki was certain she felt different... Every time she thinks of him, her heart beats faster. Whenever she heard his name, her cheeks taint red. Each occasion when they spoke, her breathing would become shallow. And every single second they spent together, she will surely store away in a treasure box deep inside of her heart.

She enjoyed watching him play tennis. On the court with his substantial stamina, astonishing footwork, well-honed techniques, and fierce determination, he's sure to be victorious.

So...what is this feeling? After 3 years together, could what started out as an innocent crush have blossomed into something more...? A quiet gasped escaped Sakuno's mouth as she realized what that "something" is.

All these years, she gave him her heart, piece by piece. All this time, she was falling for him, little by little. Until now, she felt it so much it hurts--

"_I love Ryoma Echizen..."_ she whispered almost inaudibly.

A single droplet of tear departed from her chocolate-brown eyes. Yet that single tear contained so much emotion...The sadness of knowing that he's unlikely to ever feel the same about her; the fear of him breaking that delicate heart she willingly gave him; the uncertainty of whether or not he knows, whether or not she should tell him.

Yet there was that bliss, that joy of loving someone, she smiled. Even if he'd never feel the same way, even if he'd break her heart, she'll always be there, it'll always be worth it...

"Ryoma-kun..."

After all...only those that felt it, knew what it's like to love...

However, it wasn't long before she realized something else--

"AH! I'm late for school!"

------

"Nya, Ochibi!" as soon as he heard the godforsaken Kikumaru-senpai's voice, he knew this was going to be a long, long, _long_ morning practice.

The red-head pulled Ryoma into a bone-crushing, squeezing-the-air-out-of-your-lungs hug.

"That hurts, senpai."

"Oi, Momo!" the older boy called across the large tennis court, letting the prince out of his "clutches"...for now, "Isn't our Ochibi-chan growing up so fast?"

"Hai, hai!" Takeshi Momoshiro walked towards them as he stated suggestively, "Just yesterday, he was _so young..._"

"Good to be _young_, ne?" Kikumaru asked slyly.

Ryoma watched in confusion as the two idiotic upperclassmen exchanged with each other a series of nonsense...as usual, but suddenly, they turned their attention to him.

"Echizen..."

"Ochibi..."

"Hm?" he queried with his bored voice.

"_We know something that you know that you don't want us to know..._" they said in unison.

At this, Ryoma sweat-dropped. Forget the Golden Pair, _these_ two clowns in front of him should play as a doubles pair, they're in perfect sync with one another, and they're on about the same level of stupidity as well...

"And what would _that_ be?" the prince asked, raising an eyebrow in skepticism.

"_We know what happened between you and Sakuno-chan yesterday..." _their unison was really creeping Ryoma out, he wondered if they had rehearsed it last night.

However, what scared him more was what they said...yesterday? Yesterday, the only time he and the Ryuzaki girl actually interacted was when they were--! '_They saw it?' _his mind was now racing, did the senpais spy on them yesterday? Why not? After all, they didn't have their own lives...

"What are you talking about?" he asked, feigning ignorance while pulling his Fila cap down over his face.

"You know..." Momoshiro said, his eyes darting meaningfully back and forth.

"So, what did you say to her? Leaving the poor Sakuno-chan standing there on the sidewalk, red as a tomato?" Kikumaru inquired slyly.

"You must've--"

"Eiji! Momo! Are you harassing Echizen again?" a smiling Fuji asked playfully, not knowing that he's just saved Ryoma's life.

"Nya! Fujiko-chan! Ochibi's in _love..._" Kikumaru ran up to the tennis prodigy.

"I'm not in--!"

"What are you doing?" they heard the captain's harsh voice behind them, "Why don't I see you practicing?"

"Nya! But buchou! This is about our boy's _love _life."

"Then you can annoy him about it all you want during the breaks." Kunimitsu Tezuka knew how immature his team members can be after this many years. "Now, practice." with that, he walked off.

"Fuji-senpai, rally with me." after all, the young Echizen wanted to get away from his irritating upperclassmen...

As the two rallied, Syusuke Fuji was wondering about what his silly teammates where talking about. Echizen in love? He knew they liked to tease him, but _that_ was something you don't hear everyday, and there was only one way to find out if it's true...

"Echizen," he said during the rally, "what's all these talks of you liking someone?"

Great..._everyone..._even _Fuji _was bugging him...With his distracted mind, Ryoma never noticed the yellow tennis ball coming his way, and so getting hit on the head was inevitable.

"Ow!"

"Ah, I see..." the senior opened his eyes on this occasion.

_'So he _does _like someone.' _the prodigy pondered, but who is this mysterious girl that made even _Ryoma Echizen_ lose concentration?

"So tell me, Echizen," the older boy began, "Who is she?"

"What? Who is who?"

"You know, the girl that you like."

The warning school bell replaced Ryoma's voice, indicating the conclusion of morning practice.

The prince of tennis sighed in relief, this is what it really means to be "saved by the bell".

------

A high school girl with auburn hair ran down the street, '_Oh no, I'm late for school!' _she panicked to herself while trying to run as fast as possible. Sakuno could already hear the ringing of the second bell, running down the street with the fear of being late...again.

------

He sighed, this was _way _too much for a Thursday morning. Having thought of what he did yesterday afternoon, he started to wonder to himself why he had done it. But, now that he's in class, Ryoma Echizen could enjoy his long-deserved peace and--

"RYOMA-SAMA!" oh, right, forgot about _her..._

Tomoka, the loudest thing since nuclear bomb explosions, and the so-called "president" of his fanclub since freshmen year of junior high. She takes the word "annoying" to a whole new level, in fact, she's the _definition _of annoying. He really still finds it hard to believe that this noisy girl was Ryuzaki's best friend.

Where was Ryuzaki anyways? The teacher will be here soon. Perhaps she's sick? Or..._oh no_...she got lost on the way to school? That thought was really frightening...the girl was never any good at directions... He shook it off, she probably just overslept or something.

A few short moments later, the teacher came in, Ryuzaki wasn't there. He did attandance, Ryuzaki wasn't there. He rambled on and on and on...Ryuzaki wasn't--

"E-excuse me..." there she was...panting at the door, sweat dripping down her face, so she really _did _oversleep?

"Ryuzaki-san, you're late...again." the teacher was right, it was the third time for the last two weeks... the class sweat-dropped.

"Y-yes, I'm very sorry." her cheeks were flustered from embarrassment and from running, still breathing hard.

"Very well, take a seat."

And let the rambling of the teacher continue...

------

When first break finally came, Ryoma decided to go to the library, and thus getting as far as possible from anyone...especially the fan girls. But alas, a girl stopped her.

"U-um...Echizen-san..."

Oh, so she's one of _those _girls who aren't screaming out his name every 5 seconds, but chose to stuff love letters into his bag, desk, or shoe locker...they are just as annoying.

"I-I need to t-tell you something." she was fidgeting nervously.

'Another _confession...ooh, I can _hardly _wait.' _he thought sarcastically to himself. Really, these girls need hobbies, or boyfriends.

"What is it?" exasperation and desperation was what he felt at the moment.

"I-I really l-like you!" she managed to stumble out nervously, and shut her eyes tightly, preparing for the cold rejection.

_'Surprise, surprise.' _Ryoma mentally rolled his eyes.

"So?"

"S-so..." the girl began, choking back tears, "I-I was wondering i-if you w-wanted to g-go out w-with m-me?" she knew the answer, but she had to try...

"I just don't have time for stuff like that right now," he stated as he walked away, throwing at her a "sorry" behind his back.

"By the way," he suddenly stopped, "next time you confess, try saying your name first." and with that, Ryoma walked back to class, unaware of someone hidden, watching the whole scene with shock.

"R-Ryoma-kun?"

------

_To be continued..._

_------_

Well...what do you think? I know it's probably not as good as the first one but...I did my best, I really promise the next chapter will have more Sakuno/Ryoma!


	3. Chapter 3

Unusual Day

Hey, it's me again! Hope you didn't wait too long for this chapter.

Once again, to my reviewers: Thank you all soo much for supporting me!I will be sure to watch for run-on sentences, and the tenses of my verbs too.

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis...sigh...and I never will...

Well, enough said, enjoy this chapter...

------

"_By the way," he suddenly stopped, "next time you confess, try saying your name first." and with that, Ryoma walked back to class, unaware of someone hidden, watching the whole scene with shock._

_"R-Ryoma-kun?"_

_------_

A gasp of disbelief departed her mouth as she saw what just went on right in front of her eyes . She knew Ryoma could be blunt, but she never would have guessed in a million years that he was that cruel. Couldn't he have apologized sincerely? Counld't he have said things in a different, warmer tone?

Picking up the sound of a gasp with his sharp ear, he turned, only to see _her _and immediately stopped walking. Of all the people in the world, _she _was right standing there, looking at him with shock.

"R-Ryuzaki." it took a lot of effort to not point at her and scream at the top of his lungs in surprise.

"Ryoma-kun, why? Why would you do something like this?" her quiet voice trembled.

"Do something like what?" he knew very well what she's talking about, but feigned ignorance anyways. After all, he was good at it.

"Nevermind!" probably for the first time in her life, she raised her voice, "You're so cold, Ryoma-kun!" with that, she ran back towards the main school building.

"Hmm..."

------

_"You're so cold, Ryoma-kun!"_

Her words echoed back and forth in his head, which was quite empty at the moment... There was a strange feeling of absence today, because the Ryuzaki girl wasn't there to walk home with him. Of course, he would never admit that to anyone.

"Oi, Echizen!" the older boy was snapped Ryoma out of his trance.

"Eh? Momo-senpai."

"Why isn't Ryuzaki-chan walking with us today, hm?" Momoshiro asked.

Not caring to answer, the younger boy shrugged.

"Could it be that you two youngsters had a lovers' quarrel?" the tennis powerhouse asked suggestively.

To answer his question, Ryoma whacked Momoshiro up the side of his head...well, he _had _gotten tall enough to do it...

"What was _that_ for?" he asked poutily, rubbing the side of his head.

"Hmph."

"Hey! Aren't you gonna kiss me better like you did Ryuzaki-chan yesterday?"

Hearing _this, _the young Echizen twitched, "I DIDN'T _KISS _HER!" he dinied uncomfortably. Well, he _didn't. _But then he realized, that's what it must have looked like to certain meddlesome people who were spying on them yesterday.

"Of _course _you didn't, _Ryoma-kun." _having said that, the upperclassman battered his eyelashes like a girl.

"Ugh..." the prince shuddered, _'I think I just lost the little appetite that's left in me...'_

------

"Rough day, son?" hearing his oldman's voice wasn't exactly soothing after such a bad day, "_Girlfriend _dumped you, maybe?"

Great. Really, _great._ Why _today? _Why _him? _Why _now?_

"What are _you _doing here?" the younger Echizen asked irritably.

"What do you mean?" Nanjiroh looked hurt, "I _live _here!"

"Oh yeah, I guess I forced that fact out of my head to keep myself sane..."

"My my, what happened to you? You were so _happy _yesterday!" Ryoma wondered if his dad was _born_ a drama queen, er, king...

"...Why the hell are you talking to me anyways?"

"_What? _Can't I get to know my son better?"

"So mom finally took your magazines, huh? Besides, don't you think it's a little late to get to know your child after _SIXTEEN years_?"

"You see, son," the Samurai began, "There comes a time in every man or boy's life when he--OWW!"

Wow. This was the second person he whacked today. _'I may need therapy soon...'_ Ryoma thought bitterly to himself as he walked up the stairs and into his room.

"Nanako...h-help me." dramatically, the older man called out to his niece.

"Uncle," the young woman scolded, "you deserved that for always provoking Ryoma-san childishly."

The man pouted, "I'm not childish!"

"Nanjiroh," his wife stated, just coming out of the kitchen, "Nanako's right, you were never that mature."

"Really? What part of me is childish?"

"_ALL OF YOU!"_ both females yelled in unison, making the lecherous man cringe.

"Oh my, look at the time, I must be going." laughing nervously, the former tennis pro ran as fast as he could out of the house and into the backyard.

------

_"You're so cold, Ryoma-kun!"_

Sighing with frustration, the teenage boy sat up in his bed, Karupin the cat purring beside him. _'It's not my fault,'_ he thought to himself, '_I get so much of that kind of crap every week, gotta get them off my back somehow_...'

What was he doing thinking about that anyways? He's been doing this for quite a while now, never giving it much thought until now. It's always just a cold "no" followed by a flat "sorry", and then tossing the matter to the back of his head until it's completely forgotten.

Wait...He couldn't be feeling _guilty, _could he? The Ryuzaki girl made him feel _guilty? Him? Ryoma Echizen?_ Sighing in defeat, he stood up, hearing his mother call upstairs, saying that dinner is ready. He wasn't particularly hungry, but he wasn't going to argue with himself on an empty stomach...

------

For the next week or so, the Sakuno avoided Ryoma like the plague, or S.A.R.S, or whatever other contageous disease that comes to mind...Which means not walking home with him, not speaking to him, to even stealing glimpses at him anymore. That caused the poor prince to be teased uncontrollably by his senpai-tachi...well, mostly Kikumaru and Momoshiro, but sometimes Fuji as well.

However, today he did not show up. Sakuno couldn't deny the fact that she was worried, and couldn't help but think she overrecacted. After all, he's got so many admirers, it must get annoying after a while, and he's never been that nice to anyone...

Then, she was once again reminded of what had happened about a week ago, when he whispered--

"Ryuzaki," the teacher interrupted her train of thoughts, "please start reading from the top page 68."

"H-hai!" Sakuno was quite startled, but she did as she was told.

------

"I'm fi--ACHOO!" the boy refused to stay in bed.

"Ryoma-san!" the older girl forced him onto his bed, "You're sick."

"I have practice!" he refused, "There's a big tournament coming up!"

"Well, you can't practice with a runny nose, a dry throat, and a fever!" Nanako argued, sometimes, her younger cousin's stubbornness wasn't the best thing in the world.

"But I'm fine, see--ACHOO!"

"Oh, just stay in bed, Ryoma-san!" she forced him to into a lying position, pulled a blanket on him and sighed. Was that really necessary for some who's almost _sixteen_?

Finally, the prince gave in, too tired to defy his cousin any longer.

------

The last bell of the day rang as all lesson ended.

"Today, Echizen isn't here, his cousin called in telling us he's sick." the teacher announced to the class, "So, I will need someone to deliver his homework to his house and--"

Almost instantaneously, all hands of the female students shot straight up into the air(all except Sakuno, of course). They were definitely not about to miss a chance to see where the prince lives.

"S-so many volunteers..." the teacher sweatdropped, "In that case...well...I'll just ask one of his teammates..."

That certainly earned many sighs and groans of disappointment.

"That's it then. Dissmissed! Oh and Ryuzaki, you stay behind."

_'M-Me? W-what have I done?' _Sakuno was thoroughly confused.

After the class had left the room, Sakuno walked to the front of the class where the teacher was nervously, thinking about the things that she had possibly done wrong in the past few days.

"Y-you wanted to see me?"

"Yes, Ryuzaki-san," the middle-aged man said, "Could you take Echizen's homework to his house?"

"Eh? But I thought--"

"I couldn't possibly have troubled his senpais, and you two seem to get along. So could you?"

"Um...S-sure."

"Great, thank you. Oh, and here's the address." he handed her the stack of homework and a small piece of paper.

"Th-thank you." taking the stack, she bowed and left.

------

She had somehow managed to not get lost on her way to the Echizen house. That mostly had to do with the fact that Momoshiro-senpai had led her there.

"Say hi to him for me!" the young man waved as he rode away on his bike.

Taking a deep breath, she walked towards the door and knocked on it.

"Eh?" a middle-aged man opened the door, "A girl? Are you the brat's girlfriend?"

"Ah! N-no, o-of c-course not, I came to give him his homework for the day."

The man was no doubt Ryoma's father, they had the same eyes, and the same smirk. So this is the legendary Samurai Nanjiroh...

"Oh? You're not? Did you break up with him?" the man asked with mischief in his voice.

"Uncle!" a female's voice from behind him called, "Don't give her such a hard time!"

"Fine..." the man pouted, "Come in."

"Ah, but--"

"You want to see how he is, _right?"_

Well, he's got her _there._

"H-hai..." taking off her shoes, she went inside.

"You haven't told me your name yet." the man stated.

"S-Sakuno, Sakuno Ryuzaki. You know my grandmother." Shyly, the young girl introduced herself.

"Ah, the old hag's granddaughter."

"Uncle! Just tell her where Ryoma-san's room is!" the young woman scolded. Then muttering something to herself about being "more mature than someone twice my age".

"All right, all right, _mother._" Nanjiroh said sarcastically, then turned his attention to Sakuno, "First room on your left, upstairs."

"Thank you." she bowed, and headed for Ryoma's room.

"So is she really Ryoma-san's girlfriend?"after Sakuno was out of sight, the young woman asked.

"Tsk tsk, Nanako-chan. You must not have dirty thoughts." the man teased.

"_You're_ one to talk..." she grumbled quietly, her uncle was just hopeless...

------

There was a quiet knock on his door.

"Come in." it's probably his dad coming to taunt him, or Nanako coming to check up on him...but boy, was he surprised to see _her._

Wow. She was in his room. The prince was sitting in his bed watching old tennis tapes, wearing light blue pajamas, a furry cat purred beside him. She couldn't help but blush, having never seen him out of his uniform or tennis get-up.

"A-ano...I brought you the homework for today." taking the papers out of her bag, she walked towards his bed and handed it to him.

"Thanks." he simply said.

And then, there was silence...very _very _awkward silence...the only sounds in the room are coming from the TV set.

"U-um...Ryoma-kun?"

"Hmm?"

"H-how are you feeling?"

"Oh, I'm fine, I'll be able to go to school tomorrow."

"G-great."

Silence...

"R-Ryoma-kun?"

"Yes?" he turned to her.

"I-I'm sorry about yelling at you that time..." she said while studying her feet.

"Eh, it's not your fault."

Why was she apologizing? She had every reason to raise her voice.

He got up and out of his bed, standing merely 2 feet away from Sakuno.

"Look," he began, unsure of what to say, "D-don't avoid me anymore, alright?"

"Eh?" she was thoroughly surprised.

"It's weird...without you there..." then he looked away, trying to hide the light redness that painted his cheeks.

"H-hai." was all the girl could manage while feeling blood rush to her face. He was so being...nice...to _her._

Wow.

------

"It's official, Nanako!" the Samurai ran down the stairs while excitedly waving his arms up and down, having just eavesdropped on his son. "My dear, dear brat is in love!"

------

_To be continued..._

_------_

Really hope you liked it :)

So, how did I do? Please forgive me if there's any spelling errors(more than usual, I mean...) the spellchecker on my writer wasn't working...I did my best to self-edit...

Please tell me what ya think!


	4. Chapter 4

Unusual Day

Hey! Sorry that this update is so late...So much back-to-school stuff. So, from now on, I'll hopefully be updating every weekend.

And once again, Thank you to all of my reviewers! You're such huge and wonderful support.

Disclaimer: I don't own PoT...or any characters from it...blah, blah,blah...

Enjoy!

------

_"It's official, Nanako!" the Samurai ran down the stairs while excitedly waving his arms up and down, having just eavesdropped on his son. "My dear, dear brat is in love!"_

_------_

"Uncle? I thought you were in the backyard?" the young woman asked.

"Oh, but Nanako-chan...I'm full of suprises..." Nanjiroh stated, obviously suggesting something dirty.

"Ugh..." she cringed.

"Hehehe." the perverted man chuckled mischievously.

"So...What's this about Ryoma-san being in love?"

"AHA! You _do _want to know!" he exclaimed with childish triumph, while pointing a finger at Nanako.

"Oh, nevermind..."

------

Silence. Absolute silence in the room upstairs as the two teenagers listened to the yelling downstairs.

_"It's official, Nanako! My dear, dear brat is in love!"_

_'Oh, for the love of god...' _Ryoma mentally slapped himself on the forehead. He really wanted to go down there to give the old man a beating.

_'I-in love? Wh-who is he in love with?" _stuck in this quietness, Sakuno panicked.

Silence reigned...

"I-I should go..." she finally managed to say.

"Y-yeah..." he answered simply.

"I-I'll see you tomorrow, Ryoma-kun." she said as she made to exit the room.

"Hm." came the expected, indifferent reply.

------

"So...Echizen, are you and Ryuzaki-chan back together?"

"Ugh..." he groaned, absolutely tired of the harassment. "Just play a match with me, Momo-senpai."

"Nya, but Ochibi!" without warning, Eiji Kikumaru popped out of nowhere, "What you and Sakuno-chan have are much more important than tennis."

After-school practice..._'Why do I even bother?'_ the younger boy thought miserably.

"That's right Echizen, _love _before tennis!" the spiky-haired upperclassman wore an ear-to-ear grin.

_'Tennis will be the death of me...or _these two...

------

Before she knew what was going on, Sakuno was thrown against the hard wall of the school building. And when she opened her eyes, three girls stood, towering above her now sitting frame.

"You bitch." one of them, the red-head slapped her.

"Yeah, how dare you talk to Ryoma-sama! You're not even in his fanclub." the blond girl with pigtail kicked the poor girl's stomach.

Sakuno groaned, her body ached. Thunder rumbled in the grey sky, and then, large droplets of water poured down from the sky.

"That's right," the third girl, seemingly the leader stated coldly, "Ryoma-sama is too good for you!"

Another kick sent waves of pain all throughout her body...

------

"Because of the rain," the stoic captain said, "practice will end early today."

"Hai!" everyone said in unison.

"That's all, dismissed!"

That's when everyone ran to the clubhouse, in a hurry to get out of the rain.

"I'm getting picked up again today." the older boy said slyly to Ryoma, "I guess you'll just have to shelter Ryuzaki-chan from the rain oh your own..." he pretended to sigh helplessly.

"Ugh...whatever."

The prince walked out after changing, not knowing what was in store...

------

Bruises covered the girl's arms, legs and her face. Still not satisfied with this, Mitsuki pulled a chunk of that long, wavy, brown hair, making her scream. This Ryuzaki girl, she doesn't get it, Ryoma Echizen belongs to _her, _and _only _her_. 'No one else can have him!'_

"Do you understand now?" she yelled, "You don't deserve him! You were never cheering him on! You're not thinking about him 24/7! You don't love him! And so why should you be so close to him?"

Tears streamed down Sakuno's face, they'd never understand. She _did _cheer him on. She _was _thinking about him 24/7. And no one could even _begin _to understand how much she loved him.

Still holding onto her hair, the black-haired girl pulled out a pair of scissors.

"Your hair's too long anyways. So why don't we cut it?" she said cruelly as the girls behind her smirked.

"N-no! P-please!" Sakuno begged, she loved her hair, it's the only thing she'd held onto for security.

Ignoring her pleas, she held out the girl's beautiful strands. "Snip snip", that was all it took for a mass of wavy brown hair to fall onto the wet ground.

"No...!"

"Ha! See how he likes you--" before she could finish, a tennis ball flew past her, missing her head by mere cetemetres. It impacted hard with the wall, and bounced off the ground.

Turning her head, Mitsuki saw who else, but her very own prince?

"Ah, R-Ryoma-sama."

"Oh, sorry, I missed." he simply said, "I was aiming for your head."

"A-ah..." with nothing left to say, the three girls ran with their tails between their legs.

He looked at her, and the sight made his heart clench. There were bruises and scratches covering her limbs, blood trickled from the corner of her mouth. A mass of cut off brown hair lay liflessly around her, and she was sobbing. Hard.

The rain softened and gradually stopped, the clouds parted, the late-afternoon sun shone upon the two of them.

"R-Ryoma-kun..." she managed to choke out, "Th-thank y-you..."

Standing up, she leaned towards the wall for support, looking thoroughly crushed.

What was he to do now? He could never just leave her there, his conscience would never forgive him. But what shoud he do? He wanted to tell her that everything would be fine, he wanted to make her feel better, but if only he knew how...

Shakily, Sakuno extended her leg, taking a step. So far, so good. Just a few thousand more...and she'll be right at home...

Just what the hell did those girls do to her? It made him angry, unexplanably angry.

Tears still ran uncontrollably down her face as she ran a hand through her now shoulder-lengthed hair. She hated it, she just hated everything about herself at the moment.

"Why would you just let them do that?" for some reason, seeing her like that made him lose all his calmness, "Why don't you ever stand up for your--!"

Without warning, the girl crashed into his arms. Grabbing onto his shirt, crying her heart out against his chest. He really didn't know what to do now...but he just couldn't bring himself to push her away.

The wind blew gently, caressing her soft, brown hair.

"Ah!" finally realizing what she was doing, Sakuno blushed furiously and led go, "S-sorry, I-I didn't really know what I was doing..."

"Hmm."

"B-but now," the girl stated, forcing a smile, "M-my hair won't be too long for tennis a-anymore..."

"Hmm." what is she thinking? Who was she trying to fool with that pretend cheerfulness?

Before he could figure out what he was doing, Ryoma grabbed the girl's bruised hand, and started walking, thus dragging her along.

"A-ah...R-ryoma-kun?"

"It's getting late." he simply said, looking away while stuffing his free hand into his pockets.

"H-hai." still quite surprised, she walked with him, hand in hand, shades of pink painting her cheeks.

------

"They really do look like a couple, ne, Eiji-senpai?" poking his head out from behind a wall, Momoshiro saw the prince and his "princess" walking while holding hands.

"Hai, hai. But why did Sakuno-chan cut her hair, I wonder? Girls love their hair..."

"Maybe she did it for Echizen..." the dark-haired young man smirked.

"Ahh...So young..." Kikumaru sighed wistfully, "I hope Ochibi appreciates it though..."

"Mm-hmm." the younger boy nodded in agreement. "He should, he really should."

------

It was that corner where they parted every time. But he kept walking straight to the direction of her house.

"U-um...Ryoma-kun?"

"Hn?"

"Y-you're...A-aren't you--?" she managed to stutter out, unsure of what to say.

"Ah, nevermind, I know what I'm doing." he said as a rush blood of secretly crept to up to his face. Trying to hide it, he looked away from her.

_'He's walking me home...' _finally realizing this, Sakuno found herself blushing as well.

------

"Eh? Echizen's not turning at that corner...is he lost?"

"Momo! Don't you understand? He's walking her home..." Kikumaru was the first to notice.

"Ah, so this is what you do after practice." a voice said from behind them.

"AHH!" the two screamed out in unison.

When they finally calmed down, a smiling Fuji greeted them.

"Nya! Fujiko-chan!" Kikumaru whined, "Don't do that!"

"Haha," he chuckled good-heartedly, "gomen, gomen."

"Fuji-senpai sure is sneaky." Momoshiro stated.

"Hai, hai." the red-head agreed. "And Fujiko-chan! You're not going to believe this! Ochibi is--"

"Walking Ryuzaki-chan home!" Momoshiro finished his sentence.

"Momo! _I _wanted to say that!"

"That's too bad, early bird gets the worm, Eiji-senpai."

Watching this scene, the prodigy laughed. Really, some people never grow up...

"Eh? Fujiko-kun? Why are you laughing?"

"Oh, nothing..."

"Nya? Tell me!"

------

_"AHH!" _

The sound of two people screaming turned their heads. Sakuno was clueless, but Ryoma has a pretty good idea of who they might be...and what they were doing.

_'Senpai-tachi...'_ he inwardly sighed.

"Ah, we're here." she said, standing in front of the Ryuzaki residence. "Would you like to come in?"

"That's alright, just say hi to Ryuzaki-sensei for me."

"Ah, h-hai..." the girl was walked towards the house when something stopped her.

Looking down, she realized that they were still holding hands! _'How could I have forgotten?' _she thought frantically.

"A-ahh..."

"Oh, r-right..." it seems that the prince had forgotten as well.

Reluctantly, she led go. But just before walking to the door, she never forgot to plant a kiss, a very light, shy, and small peck on his cheek.

"Th-thank you, Ryoma-kun." she said while smiling sweetly, she would cry about her beloved hair later. A blush found its way back onto her cheeks.

"I-it's nothing." was he surprised? Perhaps. Was he shocked? Yes, _that's_ the word he was looking for...

"I'll see you tomorrow, R-Ryoma-kun." was the last thing she said, as she disappeared behind the wooden door, her heart racing.

"Hmm." the prince's face started to heat up once again, as he lifted his hand up to lightly touch that sweet spot where her soft lips lingered...

------

"Oh my, Sakuno! What happened to you?" the worried Sumire Ryuzaki demanded, seeing tonnes of bruises on her granddaughter "You're late! And why did you cut your hair? I thought you loved it..."

"H-hai, sorry obaa-chan, I fell..." the girl bowed apologetically.

------

"Seishounen! You are late! L-A-T-E!" the man said, standing at the door as the prince came in.

"So?" Ryoma said with indifference, _'It's not like _he _cares..."_

"So..." Nanjiroh's face suddenly went from serious to perverted, "Were you with a girl? Was it that girl who brought your homework?"

_'I knew it...'_

"Ah! Ryoma-san!" the young woman's voice called out worriedly, "You're so late!"

The prince sighed, now _there's _someone who cared.

"Hai, sorry, Nanako." he may be looked at as a snob by some people, but he's still a polite boy deep down inside..._somewhere_.

"Eh? How come you apologize to _her?_"

Ignoring his old man, the young man went upstairs and into his room. His hand once again found its way to his cheek, where he could still feel the light tingle of her lips...

------

_To be continued..._

_------_

Sorry...In this chapter Ryoma and Sakuno are probably very OOC. Did you think so?...Please forgive me! I beg of you!

Still, I really really really hope you liked it! Please tell me what ya think :)

Also, let me know if there's any grammar or spelling errors, I'll fix it on my computer and replace the chapter. :)

Well, until next time!


	5. Chapter 5

Unusual Day

I've changed my pen-name...hope it didn't cause any inconvenience. The old one(Kiokoe) was only supposed to be temporary...but I've put off the name-change for too long...

And sorry the update's late...I had a case of writer's block.

I might not update as often as I thoght I would...Sorry, there's so many tests and projects already, jeez...

To my reviewers: Thank you very very much for your compliments and constructive criticusms. I will do my best to live up to your expectations.

Disclaimer: I do not own any Prince of Tennis characters...-wail-

Enjoy!

------

"Sakuno Ryuzaki..." the girl muttered the name with pure hatred, "what's so good about _her_?"

"Yeah..." another female agreed, "why did Ryoma-sama have to interfere?"

"Heh," the leader smirked, "Ryuzaki...she should have never gotten in my--_our _way..."

"Yes, she now she'll pay _very _dearly, right, Mitsuki-chan?"

"Right." the black-haired girl's eyes narrowed dangerously, "I. Will. Destroy. Her."

------

Looking into the mirror, Sakuno sighed sadly. It's really happened...it wasn't just a terrible dream. The long hair she took forever to grow...all gone...Now her brown locks fell around her shoulders, and she didn't like it.

"Aww..." she groaned, "I can't go to school like this..."

"Sakuno!" her grandmother called upstairs, "Hurry or you'll be late for school!"

"But, obaa-chan..."

"Come on, Sakuno, stop worrying about your hair!"

She hadn't dared to tell her grandmother what really happened last night. Sumire was quite old after all, news like that wouldn't have done her heart or temper any good...

"But—"

"No excuses," the tennis coach yelled, "you're the one who decided to get a haircut!"

Groaning quietly, the helpless Sakuno prepared for a long day ahead at school...

------

Panting hard, he slammed the door in the faces of thousands of screaming fangirls outside the clubhouse. This was really getting out of hand...sure, there were occasional stalking and chasing, but this was ridiculous! It's like fangirls get crazier and more obssesive everyday! They may have been everywhere he went at school, but Ryoma was sure that there were no such incidents as "chasing him into the clubhouse after morning practice" ever before.

_'Oh well, first time for everything...' _thinking bitterly to himself, the boy walked to his locker as bewildered faces in the small building openly stared.

"Nyaaa, Ochibi's getting more popular by the day!" Kikumaru beamed whiled changing.

"Ugh..." wow, Kikumaru-senpai sure knew how to pick the wrong day to piss him off, "they annoy me enough without _your _help, thanks."

"WAA! Fujiko-chan! Our boy's being mean to me!" at this, Fuji only chuckled.

"Echizen, you mustn't be so rough," Momoshiro said while a creepy smirk crawled its way up to his face, "you really mustn't."

"_I _mustn't be so rough?"

Mental note: Takeshi Momoshiro, most annoying idiot in the whole entire universe.

Mental note #2: Why the hell didn't I realize that _before_?

"Did you _see _what they did to _me _on the first day of school?" _and_ what they did to Ryuzaki yesterday...he added in his mind.

"Well, being a total jerk won't help you get the fangirls off your back, ya know..." the black-haired upperclassman stated.

By this time, even the stoic Captain Tezuka was taking an interest in this moronic conversation.

"And what would _you _know about fangirls?" Kaidoh's rough voice came to the rescue! "It's not like you ever _had_ any..."

"What was that, _Viper_?" gee, old habits sure die hard...

"_What'd _you just call me?" the other boy glared with intensity.

"What? You wanna _go_?" Momoshiro challenged.

Evryone sighed exasperately, some things never change...

"Sure, let's take this outside, asshole!"

"We _are _outside!" the spiky-haired sophmore yelled, not realizing the surrounding.

"No we're _not, _you _moron_!"

The none-regulars watched the dispute with slight amusement, while the regulars...well, they did the same. Out of _all _the arguments they've had over the years, this was the most interesting..._and _most stupid...

Ryoma watched them fight and smirked, relieved that he was not in the spotlight anymore.

------

Nervously, she walked down the hallway, getting unwanted attention as she went. Head spinning completely out of control, Sakuno wanted to just run, run away and never come back again.

_'Ahhh! Why are they all looking at me weird? Oh no! They must be making fun of me!'_

"R-Ryuzaki-chan?" a bewildered boy finally managed to stumble out as she made to enter the classroom.

"Ah...hai?"

"You—" he was then blasted away by the following...um...outburst...

"AHHH! SAKUNO-CHAN! OHMYGOD OHMYGOD OHMYGOD! YOU CUT YOUR HAIR! YOU CUT YOUR HAIR! AHHH! WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS WORLD! WHY MUST YOU DO THIS TO ME? OH MERCIFUL HEAVENS! IS THIS A DREAM?" Tomoka then panted for breath, having screamed all that in just one breat.

_'Oh boy, you can just tell Osakada didn't care at all...' _Ryoma thought sarcastically to himself as he sat bored in his desk, watching everyone's reaction. Well, mostly Tomoka's, because she didn't shut up long enough for anyone else to say anything. It wasn't easy, but he somehow miraculously escaped the psychotic fangirls without a scratch.

"T-Tomo-chan..." the poor girl tried to stop her friend from further embarrasing the both of them. But when Tomoka was on the rampage, probably not even a kiss from Ryoma (like _that_'ll happen) can stop her.

"WHY DID YOU DO THIS?" she screamed, practically tearing her own hair out, and stopped just long enough to gasp in realization, "NO, SAKUNO! DON'T DO THIS! YOU'RE TOO YOUNG TO DIE! WHATEVER YOU ARE GOING THROUGH, YOU CAN TALK TO ME ABOUT IT! I'LL HELP YOU!"

The shy girl sighed in exasperation, to say that her best friend was overreacting was an understatement. Apparently to Tomoka, Sakuno cutting her hair equals troubled teen cutting his/her wrist.

Seeing the teacher come into the room, everyone returned to their own seats as Sakuno sighed in relief. She was safe, at least for now...

------

The hall way was packed with people as everyone got ready to go home at the end of the day. Sakuno walked out the classroom and sighed, having survived a day of other students and even teachers staring openly. The haircut was however, not unwelcome, everyone who got to comment said it made her look more mature. And Tomoka had finally calmed down after Sakuno made up some lame reason for cutting her hair, saying that "it was time for a change". Her dramatic friend bought the excuse while crying and hugging Sakuno like she was pregnant or something.

Just as she walked down the hall, Sakuno spotted a familiar face, and it wasn't very friendly. Realizing that it was the black-haired girl from the day before, the poor girl tensed. Unpleasant pictures flashed in her head as her left hand unconsciously found its way to her right wrist, where the long-sleeved uniform covered a big bruise. Also, the shy girl was also certain that _she _was the one who cut her long, beloved hair. But...she wouldn't do anything right now, would she? There were people all around, and Ryoma wasn't very far away either.

However, Sakuno became more uneasy as she found the dark-haired girl now glaring at her with intensified hatred. After a few moments, she became additionally unnerved as the other girl began walking in her direction.

"I'd stay away from Ryoma Echizen if I were you, bitch." the currently unnamed girl spat quietly in the Ryuzaki girl's ear as they walked by each other.

Finally having stuffed all his homework into the unfortunate school bag, the prince walked down the hall. And suddenly, he spotted an unpleasant scene. The scary fangirl from yesterday was walking in Ryuzaki's direction with apparent anger on her face. And just as they passed eachother, she seemed to have said something that made the nervous girl even more tense.

_'What does she want? Hasn't she sabotaged Ryuzaki enough?' _he thought to himself, making a note to ask the girl about it later on.

------

The young Echizen was kind of glad he didn't have tennis practice this afternoon, because he had a feeling that those girls may come back if he wasn't there. As much as he hated to admit this fact, he was worried about Sakuno. Sure, Ryoma could be described as cold sometimes, but he wasn't completely heartless. Besides, after spending no short of three years together with the clumsy girl, he could no longer just acknowledge her vaguely as "the coach's very shy and quiet granddaughter who was really bad at directions and had hair too long for tennis". Okay, so that wasn't vague at all, but still...

"Um...R-Ryoma-kun?" a soft voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Hm?"

Coming out of his trance, Ryoma found himself walking alongside Sakuno on the sidewalk. Momoshiro was getting "picked-up" again. It looked like spying on the prince had become his and Kikumaru's full-time hobby.

"Oh, ah...nevermind." she looked like she really wanted to say something.

Then, they fell into silence, and neither one spoke for several minutes.

"What did she say to you?" he asked her all of a sudden.

"Eh?" Sakuno was taken completely off-guard.

"I saw what happened this afternoon, and I know she said something to you."

"Oh." was all she said in response.

Oh boy, you _know_ something must've been wrong when Ryoma Echizen was talking _more _than someone else.

"R-Ryoma-kun, I-I was...I was t-told to st-stay away from you..."

------

_To be continued..._

_------_

Sorry about the length...I just couldn't think of anything more. I promise the next one will be longer and more satisfying, and I will update as soon as it's possible for me.

Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed.

Please tell me what you think! Constructive criticisms welcome, not so much flames though...they make me cry...mostly because I'm overly sensitive, but still...


	6. Chapter 6

Unusual Day

I am soo sorry that this update is so late. My computer completely crashed…I couldn't do ANYTHING! Anyways, so my computer's finally fixed now…

Thank you once again to my reviewers!

I hope this chapter makes up for the wait…

Enjoy!

------

_"R-Ryoma-kun, I-I was...I was t-told to st-stay away from you..."_

_------_

They stood still and in silence for what seemed like forever. Neither one was willing to speak first. The wait seemed unbearable, and the stillness was almost deafening.

"So…what are you going to do now?" It was Ryoma who shattered the quietness.

Yes, what _was _she to do？If Sakuno kept hanging around her prince, the fan girls would certainly be furious; but if she listened to that girl, she may never be around the one she loved most again.

"I-I don't know…" well, it definitely was the easiest answer at the moment.

"Hm." He shrugged as if he didn't care.

However, this really did bother the prince. Who did those girls think they were, going around hurting and threatening Ryuzaki? Besides, the girl was never one to stand up for herself，and they knew it.

Also, Sakuno was getting more and more nervous with each passing second. _'This could be the last time I see him…' _she thought miserably to herself as her depression deepened. But…what's more important? The girl loved her prince so much…would life really be worth living if he wasn't even going to be in it? Thinking about this, she made a decision.

"Ryoma-kun?" Gathering all the courage she had, Sakuno began.

"Hm?" Inquiringly, he turned his head.

"I…I am not going to do what she said." She said, determined, this time, that she would not let that girl take away the boy she loved.

"I see." He responded nonchalantly, but secretly surprised, and impressed by the girl's resolve.

------

"Echizen-kun…I-I…" it's yet another confession, how _exciting_.

Sighing, Ryoma scanned the empty classroom for something, _anything_ that would be his escape (the girl blcked the door). Fan girls get really freaky sometimes…

"I really, r-really l-like you!" she said as exasperation came over the prince.

_"You're so cold, Ryoma-kun!"_

"Sorry," he said awkwardly, remembering to be less "cold", "I just...don't have time for girls right now."

Hearing this, the girl became angry. "You liar!"

"Hm?" _see_? They get freaky sometimes.

"You do SO have time for girls!" she shouted, cornering him, "What about that Ryuzaki girl?"

"What about her?" OK, remember how she was angry? Now she's just psycho.

"You're always with her! You talk to her the most out of the girls, and…" the girl was not going to give up anytime soon, "You walk home with her too!"

She must be one of those fan girls that stalked him…this really is getting hard.

"We just happened to walk home the same way," he didn't even know why he was explaining to her, "What's so wrong—"

"You love her, _DON'T _YOU?" she was now screeching at the top of her lungs.

"No," he said, denying the seemingly ridiculous accusation, "I…We're just friends."

"Oh, really?" this was one stubborn girl, "What about that time you kissed her?"

Sighing, Ryoma messaged his temples. He'd almost forgotten that time when he…well…Maybe it was his 15-year-old hormones?

"I didn't kiss her." The usually composed prince was gradually losing all calmness.

"YES YOU DID! AND YOU KNOW IT!" was all she said before storming out of the room.

He sighed, that girl ought to be in a psychiatric ward…

------

Meanwhile, Sakuno was having her own problems as an unpleasantly familiar girl cornered her once again at a deserted place in the school grounds. She never did like lunchtime. Now she just hated it.

"You're not doing what I told you to do!" the black-haired girl said.

She was now green with envy to see that Sakuno with shorter hair looked more beautiful than ever. Also, Mitsuki noticed that the girl had learned to love it as well.

"Well…I just can't…"

"CAN'T _WHAT_?" the older girl snapped.

Yet another person that belonged in the psychiatric ward…

"I can't stay away from him, because…"

"What?" the girl sneered, "Don't tell me you love him?"

"Well…"

"YOU DON'T LOVE HIM! YOU DON'T DESERVE HIM! YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT HIM! HE'S MINE!" the girl shrieked.

"But…"

"Just remember…" The black-haired girl said, not forgetting to slap Sakuno, "Stay away from him…or else, I will make sure you wish you were dead…"

------

The girl came back to class with a bruise on her left cheek. Noticing this, Ryoma couldn't help but feel his blood boil, because he had a good idea about who did this.

'_This has to stop.' _He thought to himself as the teacher walked in.

Pretending to be listening, the prince began to sleep with his eyes open.

-----

"I want you to leave Sakuno Ryuzaki alone." He said to the girl.

The hallways were almost empty at this time of day, and Sakuno was on cleaning duty.

"Ahh…but Ryoma-sama," the girl said, "I can't…not as long as you are here."

"Just leave her alone." this girl was really getting on his nerves.

"Oh?" now Mitsuki was enjoying every moment of this, knowing she had control over her own prince, "Do you love that girl?"

"No!" he denied, "I just want you to _leave. Her. Alone._ She doesn't need to be involved because of me."

"So you'll do anything?" the wicked girl asked, smirking.

"Humph."

"Well," Mitsuki began, "if you want me to leave her alone then…"

"Then what?" he snapped, this was not the usual him, but the girl made Ryoma angry with her mere presence.

"You must not be impatient." She teased in a sing-song tone, still getting pleasure from every single second of this conversation.

'_Sick bitch.' _Was the only thing running through the prince's mind.

"Go out with me, if you want me to leave Ryuzaki out of this."

"No." he simply said.

"Really? No?"

"Really. No." the prince replied coldly.

"Well then…Your precious Sakuno will be going through hell everyday…"

Hearing this made him tense considerably, and the girl seemed to notice.

"So what will it be, Ryoma-_sama?_"

The prince thought about this, and did not know what to do. He's pretty sure that he'd rather go out with Osakada than this witch, but what other choice did Ryoma have? She was going to hurt Ryuzaki if he said no. But wait...When did Ryuzaki mean _this_ much to him?

Hearing no response, Mitsuki decided to compromise. Maybe Sakuno didn't mean as much to him as she might have thought.

"Since I'm so nice," she began, "I'll leave her alone if you go on just one date with me."

"Ugh…"

"Come on, do you have any other choice, Ryoma-sama?"

"Hm…" He thought hard, the girl seemed to read his mind.

"I'm waiting…" pretending to inspect her manicure, the girl started again.

Gritting his teeth, Ryoma grudgingly agreed, "But you have to hold up your end of the bargain."

"Oh, I will."

"Humph, you better." With that, he walked away in the direction of his classroom.

------

"Ryoma-kun?" a voice came from behind him.

"Hm?"

"You really don't have to wait for me."

"It's only fair," he said, "you wait for me when I have tennis practice."

"Thank you." She said as blood crawled up to her cheeks.

"Well, let's go." Ryoma said as he began to walk.

"Okay." without doubt, she followed.

They just looked so perfect, so beautiful together; tall, handsome, and calm Ryoma Echizen, with pretty little Sakuno Ryuzaki. Who would've thought?

------

"You don't have to worry about that girl anymore." He suddenly began as they were walking.

"Hm?"

"She won't be bothering you any longer."

"Oh…" she wasn't that sure, but Ryoma must have something to do with this.

"I agreed to go on a date with her, and exchange, she won't be pestering you from now on."

"…" she really didn't know what to say.

'_He did that for me?'_ Sakuno thought as her cheeks began to heat up.

Ryoma watched the girl as her cheeks turned pink, this was the first time he really looked at her since that fan girl cut her hair; she really was beautiful, that he could never deny no matter how hard he tried.

"_You love her, _DON'T_ YOU?" _

Those words echoed inside his head. He didn't love her, right? It's just impossible; he can't be in love with Sakuno, she's just a friend…isn't she? Wow. This might be a first; he, Ryoma Echizen was confused.

------

"So, how was _your_ day, seishounen?" the perverseness showed up in the middle-aged man's face.

"Shut up, old man." The annoyed teenage boy said as he kicked off the Fila shoes off his feet.

"Whoa, had a bad day, my boy?"

"Well, I don't know how this is possible, but you just made it worse."

"What?" the man began his childish provocations, "But you love me! You live for me! I light up your day!"

Taking his schoolbag, Ryoma swung it over the man's head. Seconds later, there was a big bump on Nanjiroh's head.

"Uncle!" Nanako accused, "Stop bothering Ryoma-san."

"But he hit me!" the man's eyes began to water.

"_Because _you _bothered_ him!" exasperated, the girl went back to the kitchen to help her aunt.

Meanwhile, Ryoma went upstairs and shut the door to his room. Why in the seven depths of hell did _he _have to end up with a ridiculous family? Sitting down on his bed, the boy sighed; he must have aged at least 12 years today…

------

_To be continued..._

------

That was mostly dialogue, but I really do hope you like it.

Tell me what you think! Also if you have any suggestions on what should happen with Mitsuki, please tell me.

Well, I'm gonna go have lunch now.

See ya next time!


	7. Chapter 7

Unusual Day

You _so _don't want to see me right now… I have red spots all over my face, arms and legs. Who knew I was allergic to Tylenol?

Anyways, I would once again like to thank the people who have reviewed!

Also, I want to thank _White Alchemist Taya_, _coreagirl_, _RAVEN-monster,_ _d EMO lish pebbles_, and _kahel16 _for their suggestions. I'll try to feature as many ideas as I possibly can!

Disclaimer (haven't done these in a while): No people, as depressing as this is, I do not own any of the PoT characters. And now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go cry myself to sleep in a little corner…

Sorry this came in late…

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!

------

"EH? OCHIBI'S GOING ON A DATE? NOT WITH SAKUNO-CHAN?" the wide-eyed senior shouted and flailed his arms in horror.

"A little louder, Eiji-senpai," another boy whispered as people's heads turned, "I don't think the people in _Africa_ heard you…"

"BUT HOW COULD HE DOO THAAAT?" ignoring that last comment, Kikumaru continued to shout, "HE AND SAKUNO-CHAN ARE SUPPOSED TO MARRY EACHOTHER AND LIVE IN A CASTLE HAPPILY EVER AFTER!"

"Eiji, quiet down," Fuji tried to calm the raging red-head, "I knew I should have told you in a less public place…"

After all, they _were_ in the food court of a mall.

"What do you think we should do about this, Fuji-senpai?" Momoshiro asked between big bites and gulps of his food.

"I think…" the prodigy opened his eyes on such special occasion, and was then interrupted by a loud gasp.

"LET'S FOLLOW THEM AND WATCH THEIR EVERY MOOOOVE! NYA!"

"Eiji…" Fuji exasperatedly began, "_I _wanted to say that…in a more sadistic way."

------

The dark-green-haired boy sighed with annoyance as he leant against the wall of the subway station. He just couldn't wait to get this day over with as soon as possible, and it's all because of—

"RYOMA-SAMA!" _that._

The black-haired girl ran up to him with a disgusting amount of excitement as Ryoma braced himself for the worst day of his entire life.

------

Meanwhile, hidden in the last place you'd ever look: behind a wall, two older boys watched the prince's every move. Surely, they were getting weird stares from people passing by.

"_That's _the girl?" obviously unimpressed, the spiky-haired teen said.

"Sakuno-chan is prettier!" Kikumaru pouted. "And quieter…"

"Not that you're one to talk." A voice said behind them.

"AHH!" both boys shrieked loudly.

"I never get tired of that." Their visitor said while having himself a good laugh. "So, what happened so far?"

"We'll talk later, they're going somewhere else!"

------

"So what movie do you want to see, _Ryoma_?"

The prince answered the question with a grunt while he mentally pictured the girl being stabbed in several places. After the _pleasant _lunch they just had, Ryoma wouldn't be so sorry to see the girl being hung from the gallows…

"Oh come on, baby," the disgustingly sweet voice pushed on, "pick something."

The anger he had been suppressing was quickly boiling over, "I don't care," he said through gritted teeth, "This whole thing was your idea anyway."

"Aww," she teased, "you're talking as if you don't want to be here."

"I _don't _want to be here." he retorted irritably.

"Then leave," the cruel smile on her lips disappeared, "and watch your precious little Sakuno _suffer _with every single nerve within her pathetic body."

The girl's words were like poison, paralyzing him instantly. Gritting his teeth once again, he decided, "Fine."

"'Fine' what?"

"_You _pick something." He hated himself, and every minute of this, but it had to be done. Or else…

_There were bruises and scratches covering her limbs, blood trickled from the corner of her mouth. A mass of cut-off brown hair lay lifelessly around her, and she was sobbing. Hard._

Shaking away the unpleasant picture, Ryoma followed the girl into the movie theatre while muttering a strand of very colorful words.

------

"They went in!" newly hidden behind a bush, the red-head announced.

"We see that, Eiji-senpai." Another boy said.

"You know, Echizen doesn't seem to be having fun…" Fuji stated.

"Yeah…now that you mention it," Kikumaru agreed, "I think they were arguing just now."

"Really?" Momoshiro seemed pleased, "That means he must like Ryuzaki-chan better!"

"YEAH!" the hyper senior shouted.

"Eiji…you're doing it again…"

"Eh? Senpais? What are you doing here?" a girl's voice inquired behind them. Maybe their "hiding spot" wasn't that good…

The boys turned to see Sakuno with a few grocery bags in hand.

"SAKUNO-CHAN! THIS IS HORRIBLE! OCHIBI'S GOING ON A DATE WITH A GIRL THAT'S NOT YOU AND NOW YOU KNOW AND NOW—"

"Hello, Ryuzaki-chan." The always-calm Fuji greeted pleasantly, cutting off his friend's rampage of ultimate destruction.

"So, it's today, huh?" the shy girl studied the ground.

"_YOU ALREADY KNEW?_" two voices demanded loudly in unison.

"Erm…" looking for any sort of excuse, the girl examined her watch for the time, "I have to go, obaa-chan's waiting for me!"

With that, Sakuno walked as fast as possible down the street, and tried not to look like she was trying to get away from a rapist.

"Huh…she knew…"

"Fujiko-chan, does that mean she's OK with it?"

"Eiji, let me tell you a little something about females…"

------

Ryoma watched the credits roll on the big screen as people began to get up and leave. He did the same, thinking about what a horrible movie it was; of _all _those movies playing, she just _had_ to choose the cheesiest chick-flick in the history of cheesy chick-flicks. It's like she made it her job to make him miserable; no wait, she _did_ make it her job.

"Wasn't that _such_ a good movie, Ryoma?" she was no longer putting an emphasis on his name, but it sounded just as annoying.

"No." Came the cold and simple reply.

"Well, you _did_ let me pick the movie…" she taunted.

"Humph."

"Well, I bet if _Sakuno _picked it, you wouldn't mind…"

"_Sakuno _wouldn't choose this kind of crap."

"How would _you_ know?" she challenged, "Do you know anything about her, really?"

"Well—"

"I didn't think so," she sneered, "you're too caught up in tennis to actually to pay any attention to her!"

"That's not true," there he was, getting defensive about the girl again, "I—"

"You _nothing,_" she continued to attack, knowing exactly what ticked him off, "you know what _I_ think? I think that one day, she'll realize that you don't give a damn about her, and move onto someone else."

"I don't really _care_ what you think." the prince was losing his usual calmness.

"But it bothers you, doesn't it?" she pressed on.

He would never admit it, but it really _did_ bother him. What if the Ryuzaki girl were to leave? What if he no longer existed in her world? Realizing he wasn't thinking like himself, Ryoma shook off those thoughts.

"No." he sounded somewhat calm, but his mind was in chaos.

"It doesn't bother you? Just think about it," she was merciless, "little Sakuno all grown up, on her wedding day. She walks down the aisle towards her smiling groom. Alas, but it's not you…"

"Just _shut-up!_" coolness was something he no longer had, "Why are you telling me these things anyway?"

"I'm just saying," Mitsuki quieted down to a sadistic whisper, "why stick with her, when you can be with _me_? _I'd_ never leave you."

"That's what I'm afraid of."

What did this bitch know anyways? Sure, he'd never admit it; but he cared about her. If he didn't, Ryoma would not have _been _there, having a ridiculous confrontation with this useless, persistent, and stupid excuse of a girl. There are many things he'd never admit about Sakuno, like; how she had always been pretty, how he found her shyness and bad sense of direction to be quite cute, how she'd been the only tolerable presence around him, how badly his heart stung after seeing her get hurt, and how he was…

"In love with her…" the words slipped out of his mouth, barely audible. Shocked by the realization, the boy quickly recovered from his wide eyes and slightly gaping mouth.

"What did you say?"

"None of your business," trying to gain back his composure, Ryoma replied nonchalantly, "just remember to leave Ryuzaki alone, got it?"

He walked out of the movie theatre, leaving Mitsuki standing there and glaring daggers into his back.

------

"Oy, seishounen," the older man said, "how was the _date?_"

"Ugh, screw off, old man."

"Ahh! How dare you!" Nanjiroh pointed an accusing finger at his son, "Rinko! Our boy just swore at me!"

Ignoring his father's childish antics, the prince went straight upstairs into his room. This was going to be a _long, _sleepless night, he had a feeling that it would be.

------

"OCHIBI-CHAN!" was the first thing he, and anyone with ears heard on Monday morning, "HOW COULD YOU GO ON A DATE WITH A GIRL THAT'S NOT SAKUNO-CHAN? SHE WAS SOO SAD WHEN WE SAW HER THE OTHER DAY!"

Pretending as if he had heard nothing, the prince walked past a panting Kikumaru and into the tennis court.

"Just rally with me, senpai." He simply said.

"WHAT? WHO HAS TIME FOR RALLYING WHEN YOU'RE CHEATING ON SAKUNO-CHAN?"

"Umm…Fuji-senpai…is Kikumaru-senpai on his PMS?" the prince was quite scared.

Laughing at the younger boy's question, Syuusuke Fuji answered with a "no".

The rest of morning practice was rather eventful as the red-head chased Ryoma around the courts, demanding an answer while the prince himself tried to avoid anything having to do with a "date". Everyone else forgot practice and watched the duo, which caused the stoic captain to give them laps around the school grounds.

------

"Umm…Ryoma-kun?" the sound of her pleasant voice rang in his ears.

"Hm?" he merely looked in her direction.

"How was it, the…date?" Sakuno asked cautiously.

Well, one of them had to bring it up, but the silence that followed was especially awkward as they walked down the street.

"How do I put it in words?" he finally began sarcastically, "horrible, extremely unpleasant, and so very excruciatingly painful would be a compliment for the day I had with her."

Not being able to control herself, the girl giggled at these words, but quickly stopped as she saw the bitterness on his face.

"Sorry," she began apologetically, "it was only because of me that you had to go through it."

"You're right," He said as the two stopped at the corner where they'd separate, making the girl study the ground with shame, "but you're worth the pain." He leaned in whispered in her ear.

"Eh?" blood was once again rushing at light-speed up to her cheeks.

"I'll see you tomorrow," he hesitated for a moment, "Sakuno."

With that, Ryoma walked away, leaving a very red and dumbstruck girl on the sidewalk. _'Did he just…call me by my name?'_

"Umm…Bye!" snapping out of the daze, she called after him.

'_Wow.'_

_------_

Unsure of what he'd just done, the prince opened the front door to his house. However, today he was not being greeted by a perverted old face. That was strange. Poking his head into the living room, he found the man reading "newspaper" once again.

'_Where does he even get the money for that stuff?'_ Ryoma thought as he mentally slapped his forehead in exasperation.

"Ahh, good afternoon, young man," he was in an awfully good mood today…

'_Gee, I wonder why.'_

"And how was _your _day, my precious son?"

"Absolutely horrible." Annoyed with the perverseness on his face, the teenager replied.

"Awww, come look at my _newspaper,_ son, it'll make you forget _all_ the rejections that you received from girls."

"Right, because you are _such _a good father." He threw the shoe in his hand at the middle-aged man with amazing accuracy, thus knocking him over.

With a satisfied smirk on his face, the prince went upstairs to his room, still thinking about a certain brunette.

------

_To be continued…_

_------_

Whew! It's done, yay!

Think of that as my Christmas present to you guys, and hope you got awesome presents! Much better than the one I gave... -.-"

Anyways, I really liked writing this chapter, hope you liked reading it!

Pleas tell me what you think, and see ya next time!


	8. Chapter 8

Unusual Day

I'M BACK BABYY!

I guess none of you nice people think it's very funny that I took such a LOOOOONG break from this story…and you probably want to throw tomatoes and daggers at me. Sorry it took so long. I hit a writer's block and kind of gave up. But now I'm back with new ideas! YAY ME!

THANK ALL OF THE REVIEWERS SOO MUCH! To tell you the truth, I mostly write for you guys…

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters from PoT…-sniffle sniffle-

Enjoy!

------

_What did this bitch know anyways? Sure, he'd never admit it; but he cared about her. If he didn't, Ryoma would not have been there, having a ridiculous confrontation with this useless, persistent, and stupid excuse of a girl. There are many things he'd never admit about Sakuno; like how she had always been pretty, how he found her bad sense direction and shyness to be quite cute, how she'd been the only tolerable presence around him, how badly his heart stung after seeing her get hurt, and how he was…_

"_In love with her…" the words slipped out of his mouth, barely audible. Shocked by the realization, the boy quickly recovered from his wide eyes and slightly gaping mouth._

_------_

'_What to do?_' for probably the first time in his life, the calm prince of tennis was panicking—well, at least as close as it gets for him. Over the past few weeks, Ryoma has tried to ignore his newly-discovered feelings for the girl; it really didn't seem to work, although Sakuno was oblivious to any changes. After all, she couldn't see his sweaty palms, or hear his heartbeat grow faster. When all else fails, he considered fleeing to Mexico and start dealing drugs for a living, but that seemed a little extreme; however, it _is_ less crazy than the second option: _tell her._

"Echizen!" the man's voice broke through his muse, "were you listening to one word I said?"

"Nope." He could care less about what the teacher had to say, it was English after all.

"Maybe you should start now." the middle-aged man said with annoyance, but knew his words were in vain.

Mr. Asuka then restarted droning on about everything that the prince didn't care about, while his gaze drifted over to a confused brunette across the room. Her brows furrowed in concentration, while she chewed her bottom lip, trying to comprehend it all. And as much as Ryoma tried, he never looked anywhere but at the young Ryuzai girl for the rest of the period.

Sakuno was _not _getting any of this. English seemed like alien language to her, the pronunciations, the syllables, the antonyms, the homonyms, the thing where you have to…Oh. God. She was in a downward spiral towards failure.

------

At the end of the day, a high-pitched, cheerful voice can be heard on the PA system throughout the school. It was an announcement for the spring dance.

"_This year, students, we have come up with an exciting new way for you to get dates! (1) Red, white, and yellow roses will be sold at four stations within the school. Give your beloved a red rose, and if they returns you with a white one, then it means that they return your feelings and that you're going to dance together! But if they return with a yellow one, that is, if they care to respond at all, you're out of luck. And you've only got one week, so hurry up!"_

_------_

"Hey, Ochibi! Who are _you_ asking to the dance, now that we know you were forced to go on that date to protect _Saku-chan?"_

The prince of tennis responded that question with an attempt to take out his senpai's head with a tennis ball.

"Hey! I'm just wondering…" the red-head pouted.

------

"Ryoma-kun?" somehow, her voice always made everything better.

"Hmm?" he looked out of the corner of his eyes at her.

The girl was fidgeting, she wanted to know if her prince wanted to go to the dance at all, but she was scared to ask.

"Err, I-I was wondering if…" her cheeks turned red, "if you…had a good practice?" chickened out…

"Eh, just the usual, a few practice matches."

"Oh." She felt so awkward there.

"Why?"

"Umm…" she studied the ground as she walked, looking for something legitimate to say, "You-you look tired today…that's all."

"Well, it's hard work aiming tennis balls at both Momo-senpai and Kikumaru-senpai. You'd think they'd be hard to miss, with those big, empty heads."

This statement made her giggle—music to his ears.

"What did they do this time?" the pretty girl asked jokingly, slowly relaxing.

Ryoma shrugged, and for a moment, he wished their walk home never ended.

"So…" she stood at the street corner. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow, Ryoma-kun."

"Yeah."

------

'_Seriously, what to do?'_ the prince pondered in his bed, while a ball of fur curled up against him comfortingly. He didn't run away from his feelings anymore, but Ryoma still hasn't fully accepted them yet. After all, he was someone with a lot of pride, someone who didn't like feeling weak.

Yet, every time Sakuno said his name, his walls of defense crumbled a little. Every time she smiled his heart beat a little faster. And every time she her cheeks tint pink, his breathing became just a little more shallow. He hated those moments where he felt so weak around her, yet he loved and cherished them at the same time.

Realizing such things really is exhausting, the tennis prodigy thought as his eyelids became heavy.

------

Not too far from the traditional Japanese house, sleep didn't come so easy for Sakuno. If only she was just a little braver, then she would march right up to Ryoma and give him that red rose, and she would say those three words that replay in her head every time she saw the boy. If only she was, but she wasn't. It would take a miracle for her to do something like this, but it would take a bigger miracle for him not to reject her.

Sighing sadly, she closed her eyes, knowing there will be many failed attempts to sleep throughout the night.

------

It was expected. So why didn't _he _of all people see this coming? Girls, a whole herd of them, were all he was seeing. They were holding red roses in hand, and were prepared to use their manicures on any others in the crowd.

Several hundred shouts, screams, and squeals of "RYOMA-SAMA" were heard. Stupid student council, this was worse than Valentine's Day, since they had to give the rose in person.

Ryoma was glad he was on the tennis team…where there was a fence, if he was on the basketball team, he would look like a giant piece of gum stuck to the floor right now.

Strangely, he found himself looking for a particular head with auburn-brown hair on it. Damn, she was much easier to spot with those stupid pigtails. Out of the blue, a tennis ball zoomed past his head.

"Focus, Echizen." The stoic young captain ordered.

"Hai."

Great, out of _all_ the days of the year, _all _the days of their lifetimes, Tezuka decides that today might be a good day to play a match with the prince.

Samurai Junior served his signature Twist Serve, the motion was accompanied with earsplitting exclamations like "GO RYOMA-SAMA", "YOU'RE THE BEST" and the freakiest one of them all: "HAVE MY BABY!"

He was a little disappointed when he didn't spot her in the crowd, but he was also glad. If Ryuzaki were in a crowd like this, she'd either die of shock, or be trampled to death.

Practice flew by unusually fast, which meant going outside the caged in area of the tennis court and—the prince gulped—facing those freaky girls, he was scared, but he was also extremely irritated.

"Wow, Echizen, you're really popular with the ladies."

"Shut the hell up, Momo-senpai."

"Ooh, touchy-touchy."

'_Well, it was fun while my crappy life lasted.' _The prince took a deep breath, admitted defeat, and walked out to face death…

------

'_What happened to __him__?'_ Sakuno thought as her prince walked, or rather, wobbled into the classroom with a blank expression on his face.

------

Throughout the day, a good thirty girls approached the prince during breaks. Sakuno watched them, eyes filled with hope when they go up to him, giving him the rose. Then, she saw their faces fall as he carelessly—and as the day went on, irritably—tossed each and every rose into the garbage can. And with every rejection the girl observed, her own courage and hope slowly reduced

By the end of the day, the trash was overflowing with red pedals.

------

"You know, Ryoma-kun…"

"Yeah?" he side-glanced the petite girl beside him, she looked so sad.

"You should at least keep the roses those girls give you. They bought them with their money…" Sakuno murmured quietly.

He sarcastically snorted, "Riight."

"Really, you should—"

"They deserve it for annoying me all the time."

"Well, at least—"

"You're talking a lot more today, and you're not even stuttering."

He didn't like seeing Sakuno unhappy, but what had to be done had to be done.

Hearing what he said, the girl's cheeks were painted red. And as Ryoma saw it out of the corner of his eyes, his heart skipped a beat.

"Besides, why _are_ you on the creepy stalkers' side anyways?"

"But they…they love—"

"Ha, Please." those stupid girls definitely didn't put him in the best mood.

Giving up, Sakuno pouted. _'What a jerk.' _

Oh, if only she wasn't heart-brokenly in love with him, she would give him a good kick in the shin. But she didn't even know why she was so upset for those girls, she was just…upset. And no, it wasn't her "time of the month". Maybe it's because she was afraid that Ryoma might reject her like that, if she were to give him a red rose.

So, silence reigned, and not the usual comforting silences either. This time, it was a bit awkward, as if both of them expected the other to apologize.

Rarely does Sakuno act like this, the boy grasped; she was always so quiet and easy-going. Maybe he should…no. She could make his palm sweat all she wanted, but she was not making Ryoma Echizen apologize.

…Was she?

At the street corner, the Ryuzaki girl didn't even stop to say goodbye, drowning in her confusion. Yet, the prince refused to say anything either, he was still having a self conflict.

------

The next day, they didn't say anything to each other, not that they could anyways. Girls were coming by the flock. Sakuno even now watched as the young prodigy rejected each and every one of the girls, this time breaking the stem of each delicate flower in half before deliberately throwing it right into the garbage.

------

"Still mad at me?" his irresistible voice was beginning to wear down on her.

"Well," she was beginning to soften, "I don't know…I mean, today you still—"

"What if I made you a deal?" they stopped at the corner.

"A Deal?" Sakuno had a bad feeling about this.

"If you start talking to me again, I promise to love and cherish the rose _you_ give me."

"EHH?" her face turned so red it could put a tomato to shame.

His signature smirk appeared, "Kidding."

Sakuno did not know what to say at that moment, but it seemed that Ryoma did.

"Well, see you tomorrow."

And with that he walked away, leaving the love-struck girl standing on the sidewalk blushing furiously for the umpteenth time.

------

That night, Ryoma made a decision. He was sick of hiding, Ryoma Echizen, Samura Junior does not hide, not even from such a horrible thing as love. Besides, Sakuno was worth it.

Lying in bed, the prince sighed. Geez, he was going to have to waste money on a silly red rose just like everyone else now.

------

_To be continued…_

------

Hope you liked it! :)

The rose thing is not my idea…I got it from Imadoki!, a manga by Yuu Watase.

Sorry. I really tried to write longer than my usual chapters to make up for the long time that I didn't update for…but I just couldn't. :(

Please tell me what you think!

See you soon! I promise!


	9. Chapter 9

Unusual Day

Hey people...sorry this came so late again, computer just completely broke. But thanks to my mother, I have a new laptop, YAYY! She says it's an early going-away-to-university present...4 years early. Anyways...sorry.

BTW...I SAW SPIDERMAN 3!!! IT WAS AWESOME! Peter Parker with his emo haircut was SOOOOOO HOTT!! And if anyone wants me to ruin the movie for them...PM me :P, haha, I'm really good at that.

To all my reviewers, thank you so much for your support! I know I say this a lot, but this story wouldn't keep going without you! So thanks again.

Disclaimer: I do not own any PoT characters, if I did, Ryoma and Sakuno would make out in every episode. Haha, JK.

Well, enjoy!

------

_That night, __Ryoma__ made a decision. He was sick of hiding, __Ryoma__Echizen, __Samurai__ Junior does not hide, not even from such a horrible thing as love. Besides, __Sakuno__ was worth it._

_Lying in bed, the prince sighed. Geez, he was going to have to waste money on a silly red rose just like everyone else now._

_-_-----

_'__Ohgodohgodohgodohgodohgod__.'_ It's a little sad, but that was the only coherent thought (somewhat) going through the 16-year-old boy's mind as he walked—a little faster than usual—down the sidewalk. Ryoma realized that all things are easier said than done; he _said _to himself that he was going to give Sakuno that rose, but the thought of actually carrying out such a plan was eating him like a hungry...Momo-sempai.

"RYOMA-SAMA!" screaming from fangirls snapped him out his trance once again, when did he get to school? Roses were being thrown at him, with girls' name attached to them. Ryoma stepped on as many as possible as he headed for class.

The scene in the classroom was one that hit him like a tennis ball on fire—maybe it's because he wasn't paying attention in the past few days, but there were a fair number of boys by Ryuzaki's desk, with roses in hand. The girl, a little surprised, accepted with a small nod and a blush on her face. WHEN? HOW? WHY? He wasn't supposed to have COMPETITION! Uh-oh...panic struck again as Ryoma tried to walk as calmly as possible over to his seat.

------

Sakuno was baffled by her new-found popularity amongst the boys...when? How? Why? All of a sudden, male students were approaching her with red roses; this wasn't supposed to be part of her day. Just as she was pondering, the dreaded English class started with a bell.

"Good morning class," the teacher had a smile plastered onto his face, Sakuno panicked, this is the expression on his face when they have a—"pop quiz."

_'Oh god...NOOOO!'_

_------_

At first break, Ryoma wandered, and tried to look as innocent as possible, around the stand where roses were sold. At least ten times, he wanted so badly to just buy the rose, shove it in Sakuno's hands and get it over with, but an unfamiliar fluttery feeling stopped him every time. WHOA—fluttery? Panic, he could deal with, but fluttery was too much for the prince, he was a MAN, and he refused to feel any stupid emotion that had a girly name. However, truth just cannot be denied, Ryoma was _nervous_ (he came up with a more "manly" word for it afterwards). Before he had time to think about it again, however, bell rang for the start of the next class.

------

Sakuno sat in chemistry class, wondering, just like she did for the last few days, if she should have bought a red rose for her prince yet. Today however, she hesitated for a different reason; the girl saw Ryoma hanging around the stand. Was he planning to buy a rose for someone? Doesn't that mean he's in love with someone else? The thought was killing her, as the teacher preached on and on.

Her Ryoma-kun was in love with someone else, she tried to grasp that concept. _'Well'_, Sakuno told herself pathetically, _'it'__s not like I__ ever ex__pected it to be __me.'_

------

The walk home was deathly silent; both were too busy wondering if the other was in love with someone else. That must be a disappointing surprise to two shadows watching them from behind a wall...

"Ow! Kikumar-sempai, stop elbowing me!"

"Shush, Momo, it's your fault they're not talking to eachother!"

"Hey, don't be so hard on him." A voice from behind said.

_"AHHHHH!"_

Fuji sighed; that really never gets old, "So, I suppose Sakuno-chan getting roses from boys had something to do with you."

"Well..." the two teenagers looked sheepish as Momo explained, "We thought that maybe—Ow! Okay, _I _thought that if Echizen was jealous of the guys we sent after Sakuno-chan, he'd hurry up and buy her a rose already."

"Well, that's just idiotic," another voice joined them, "according to my data; there is only a 0.001 chance of Echizen actually showing his jealousy."

"Oh geez..." Kikumaru grumbled childishly, "don't people know the meaning of privacy anymore?"

"You're one to talk, Kikumaru-sempai." A shadow said behind the four, cracking his knuckles.

Slowly, the boys turned around to find a sight that made even Fuji twitch.

"Uh-oh."

"Mada mada dane, sempais."

Meanwhile, Sakuno kept walking as she wondered why Ryoma suddenly ran off in such a hurry, telling her to go on.

_'Maybe he forgot something.'_

------

_"Good morning students! Don't forget, today is your last chance to get __roses__! Don't miss out on the love of your life!"_

This time, the high-pitched voice got to Ryoma in more than one way. _'Last chance, huh?'_

"Attention class, I now have the results of the pop quiz yesterday," everyone seemed bent on interrupting his thoughts today, "I must say; I'm a little surprised at how many are behind."

Out of the corner of his eye, the prince saw Sakuno cringe. _'Guess she didn't do well.'_ He thought absentmindedly.

------

Classes are done for the day, and it was now or never, Ryoma thought to himself as he approached the stand again. Finding out why boys were surrounding Sakuno's desk yesterday made the situation much less scary. This shouldn't be so hard; it's just taking money out of his wallet and asking for a rose. How easy is that? It wouldn't even do him any brain damage...it's simple, he told himself, nothing to be afraid of...And so, full of determination, the prince marched bravely up to the hut.

"One red rose." He bit out resolutely as he took out his money.

The girl behind the counter just stood there, mouth hung open like she's waiting for cobwebs to form, and looked at the prince with eyes big as pineapples.

"You _do_ know I'm not going to wait forever." Ryoma raised an eyebrow.

Finally snapping out of her shock, the girl answered, "Uhhh...right, Ryoma-sama." She took one of the few delicate flowers left and unwillingly handed it to him, "who are you going to ask, Ryoma-sama?" the girl asked with a tinge of jealousy.

"Hn." He took the rose and walked off.

------

"Ryoma-kun?" hearing her voice, the prince immediately tensed. Holding the rose, he felt like a kid with his hand in the cookie jar; caught in the act.

"Ryoma-kun? I-is something wrong?"

He really didn't know what to say or do; shoving a rose in her hand was much easier when he pictured it in his mind.

"No." He finally managed.

"Oh, okay..."

Seeing that he had a rose made her extremely nervous. Was it for someone? Was it from someone? Had he kept it because he's considering saying yes? Sakuno gripped on her bag consciously, hoping she's not crushing her own flower hidden in it.

------

As they walked, awkward quietness seemed to go on forever. Sakuno silently stole sideway glances at the boy walking beside her, observing his handsome profile. How she loved his dark hair, his golden feline eyes, his sharp nose, and those lips, she would die just to feel them on her own. If only he felt the same...

What now? She wanted to know so badly what the rose in his hand was about, and as they got closer and closer to the corner, time seemed to tick by faster than ever. Well, if she didn't ask now, she might never get a chance, and it's not like she's got anything to lose...

Gathering all the courage she had, Sakuno broke the silence, "Ry-Ryoma-kun?"

"Hm?" good thing she couldn't see what he was feeling. _'Don't ask about the rose, don't ask about the rose, don't ask about the rose, __don't__ ask about the rose...'_

"Th-the r-rose..." _'__Damnit__.'_

"What about it?" he felt his calmness slipping away.

"I-I was just...w-wondering..." the girl suddenly found the ground the most interesting thing in the world as she continued, "who g-gave it to you..."

The boy shrugged, "No one. I bought it."

"Oh." Sakuno felt her heart sink. Well, it couldn't be for his mom, so...who could it be? She pondered, oblivious to the truth. She was no mind reader, after all.

Ryoma's gripped on the flower in tightened as time was running out. Why is this so damn hard? He was pretty much expecting rejection anyways, he told himself. So what's there to lose now? Frustration built up as they reached the street corner.

"So..." she stopped walking, as did he, "see you later, Ryoma-kun."

He seemed to have nothing to say, so she turned and started walking when a hand grabbed her wrist.

"Wait." The boy said, finally making up his mind. Well, he's already come this far...

"R-Ryoma-kun?" a blush crept onto her cheeks as she turned around.

"Ok," he started, looking at any where but her, "I don't know when this started, and I don't know how, but I just...it's..." for the first time in his life, the prince was at a loss for words.

"Ah, screw this." He said as he shoved the delicate red rose in the hands of a dumbstruck girl in front of him.

"Eh?" her face was red as a tomato, "M-M-M-ME?"

He looked way, trying to hide his blush, and shrugged

"Wow." That word could not describe half the shock Sakuno was feeling at the moment, it seemed like a dream.

It took a moment for the craziness of all this to sink in, but when it finally did, the girl felt happier than she ever had her whole life.

"Umm..." she took out the flower previously hidden in her bag, face scarlet like its pedals, "I don't have a white rose with me, and to be honest... I-I was g-going to give this t-to you anyways..."

He took it with one hand, the other still holding onto hers, feeling as if a huge weight has lifted. And for an instant, he smiled. He actually, honestly, not-smirking, genuinely smiled. Who knew Ryoma was capable of such an expression of joy?

Just then, when the day could not get anymore bizarre, he pulled on her wrist, closer to him, until they were so near he could see the gold flecks in her chocolate-brown eyes. After that, the boy leaned in and ever-so-lightly brushed his lips against her forehead.

"Well," he reluctantly let go of her, "see you later."

"R-Right." Was all she could manage as he walked off.

He really should stop leaving her on the sidewalk in a daze like that, a kidnapper could come, or a pervert...

------

"Sakuno? Are you all right?" the old woman asked with concern.

"U-umm...yeah, obaa-chan."

"Bad day?"

"No, but it _was_ a little unusual..." she absentmindedly answered as a small smile crept onto her lips, oh boy was she going to have dreams tonight.

------

_To be continued..._

------

So...Did ya like it?

That was a crucial chapter; I really hope you thought it was good. It was pretty hard to keep Ryoma in character while writing it...hope he wasn't _too _OOC by the end...

Anyways, I'm thinking of starting a new story in Naruto, the couple is Sasuke/Sakura...typical, I know...but what do you think?

Well, please let me know how you liked this chappie!

And as always...Hope to see you soon.


	10. Chapter 10

Hey readers! YAYY SUMMER!

GOING TO HIGHSCHOOL NEXT YEAR! Can't wait...just hope they don't really dunk freshmen's heads in toilets... o.O

YOUR REVIEWS ARE BETTER THAN ICE-CREAM AND CHOCOLATE AND CANDY COMBINED! (Not really...)

Really, really, really sorry for such a long wait... GAHHH! Didn't mean to disappoint you guys...again. :(

Disclaimer: I don't own PoT...I'd love to...but no.

Enjoy!

- - - - - -

"Ok," he started, looking at any where but her, "I don't know when this started, and I don't know how, but I just...it's..." for the first time in his life, the prince was at a loss for words.

"Ah, screw this." He said as he shoved the delicate red rose in the hands of a dumbstruck girl in front of him.

"Eh?" her face was red as a tomato, "M-M-M-ME?"

He looked way, trying to hide his blush, and shrugged

"Wow." That word could not describe half the shock Sakuno was feeling at the moment, it seemed like a dream.

It took a moment for the craziness of all this to sink in, but when it finally did, the girl felt happier than she ever had her whole life.

- - - - - -

"UWAAAA!" Kikumaru yelled at the top of his lungs as soon as he walked into the tennis court, "OCHIBI HAS A DATE FOR THE DANCE! AND IT'S SAKU-CHAN!"

"Oh great, they know." The boy muttered, wondering if spying on him had become his sempais' full-time job. Ah well, they'd know sooner or later...Ryoma just wished it was later.

Upon hearing the news, everyone around stared, openly stared, stared like the shameless idiots they were. The silence was getting creepy as a tumbleweed rolled across the court, when a hand slapped Ryoma across the back.

"Ahaha! You have a date? Finally! I was beginning to think you were gay."

"Kill me, kill me now." The tennis genius grumbled to no one in particular as he turned, with annoyance, to face a idiotic, grinning monkey.

"Surprisingly, I don't even have a date," Horio rambled on, "I thought girls would be all over me because frankly, I'm much more charming and attractive than you are."

"_Riight._" The others said in unison.

"Soo...Echizen, how did you ask? Did you–"

"Why aren't you practising? 25 laps, now!" Tezuka's harsh voice cut off Oishi, and stopped probably the other millions of questions heading his way.

"BUT CAPTAIN!" Kikumaru wailed, "OUR WITTLE BABY BOY HAS FINALLY GROWN UP! HE'S GOT A DATE FOR THE DANCE!"

"Date?" the captain repeated, disbelief in his voice.

"Mm-hmm." everyone nodded.

"Discuss it while you run your 25 laps then." he walked away after that.

Grumbling and whining, the team obeyed nonetheless, while Ryoma prepared to face what was going to be the most annoying morning in history.

- - - - - -

She noticed, when he walked in, that he looked annoyed instead of nonchalant like usual. Sakuno wondered what was bothering him as the dreaded English period began.

The man droned on once again, about things she barely understood. Really, she was pitifully bad at English. Maybe she would ask Ryoma-kun for help later. She then blushed, suddenly remembering what had happened last Friday, though she really didn't know what to make of his feelings for her anymore. Does he really like her?

- - - - - -

"Ryoma-kun?"

"Hm?"

"Was there something...bothering you this morning?" she wasn't sure if it was her business to ask.

"Eh," he shrugged, "Kikumaru-sempai and Momo-sempai...and pretty much everyone else were being bigger idiots than usual, that's all."

What he didn't tell her about was all the crying, the whining, and the nasty words about Sakuno he'd heard from fangirls while walking in the hallway.

"I...I see." And everything fell silent again.

Ryoma thought about how confused and frustrated she looked during first period. Obviously, being raised America, he had absolutely no trouble with English class–hell, he could teach it if he wanted to. Maybe he should help? He'd seen the score on her pop quiz...and it was not pretty. So...

"You know," he began, "you suck in English."

"Eh?" She looked so surprised.

he wondered, but turned to her when he heard a nervous giggle. 

"Yeah...I'm not very good with that." she paused then, biting her lower lip as she tried make a decision about something, "Could you...um...h-help me?"

He didn't answer, so she panicked, "I-I mean...you don't have to...It's probably too–"

"Sure."

"R-Really?" she looked up at him, he'd grown so tall.

He shrugged and looked away, hiding his blush again.

"Thank you so much!" she was so happy. _He _made her happy. Thinking that, Ryoma started to feel light-headed, his palms began to sweat again. _'Damn.'_

Well, he couldn't help it, he loved her

- - - - - -

To the highschool student body of Seigaku, the next few days seemed so slow as the dance neared and their excitement heightened.

To Sakuno, Friday night had come too fast. Once again, she studied herself in the mirror, still the nervous wreck she'd been for the last 3 hours. She really wondered if she'd chosen the right dress as she fiddled with the black ribbon tied around her waist. It wasn't that fancy really, a simple knee-length, pink halter dress with black polkadots.

Her hair had grown since that encounter with...what was her name again? Mitsuki, right. She just scrunched it, not willing to look too different.

"Sakuno, you look fine. Geez, stop being so nervous." Obaa-chan reassured.

"But–"

"Trust me, he's going to like it. Even though he would rather die before admitting such a thing."

She sighed,

-

"Oh, Seishounen!" his father's sing-song entered his room.

"So...Ryuzaki's grand-daughter, huh?" the middle-aged man elbowed the prince suggestively, and wiggled his eyebrows.

"Drop dead, oyaji." Ryoma snapped, trying to pull loose from the evil clutch of the black tie Nanako insisted on.

"Aww." the man cooed, and then shouted to his wife downstairs, "Did you hear that, Rinko? MY SON LOVES ME!"

"Oh, Kami." the boy muttered, trying to control his temper. After all, he did not want to go see the girl he loved with his father's blood in his hands.

"Oh, son," Nanjiroh began, clearly enjoying aggravating him, "I know you love me, but there's no need to call me Kami."

"Uncle!" the young woman stood in the doorway, "Leave Ryoma-san alone."

"But it's fun..." the comment received a smack in the head from his son.

"Ow. Ok, ok. I'll stop." The childish man walked out of the room, followed by Nanako, grumbling something about "party poopers".

Ryoma sighed as he glanced at the clock. _'Time to go.'_ He thought as he walked downstairs.

"I'm going." he said to the adults, now in the living room.

"Have fun." her mother said.

After his son walked out of the house and onto the street Nanjiroh poked his head out the front door.

"HOPE YOU SCORE, SON!" he shouted down the street, the exclamation was rewarded with a rock that smacked him in the face. "Ow."

Ryoma sighed, some people never learn.

- - - - - -

Sakuno nearly jumped a foot in the air when the doorbell rang, earning a chuckle of amusement from her grandmother. She ran to the door, opened it, and saw the prince in all his glory. His black hair untamed as ever, and his feline eyes shined, the black tie around his neck was loosened and a button on his dress-shirt was undone, he wore black slacks with the usual Fila sneakers. The girl blushed furiously as she saw him look at her with an unreadable expression.

"Hello, Ryoma-kun."

"Hn," the usual reply came, "let's go."

"Ok."

The girl looked different today, more beautiful. Her hair was curlier, she wore a halter dress, and...she seems taller, that's when he noticed the peep-toe shoes she wore with one-inch heels.

"Have fun, kids." Ryuzaki-sensei called from within the house.

"Bye, Obaa-chan." she said as she walked out the door and closed it behind her.

She smiled nervously as she fell into step beside him, quiet like usual.

- - - - - -

They walked into the gym that was booming with music. It was dark, only illuminated by coloured lights that spun and flashed occasionally.

"OCHIBII!" Great, they had not take 5 steps, and Kikumaru-sempai already glomped him.

Seigaku's tennis regulars, excluding Tezuka, followed. Momo had a date too, that Ann something from that Fudomine...or something. He didn't remember such useless things.

"UWAAA!" Kikumaru's voice invaded his eardrums once again, "SAKU-CHAN LOOKS SO KAWAII! DOESN'T SHE, OCHIBI?"

He looked at the red-faced girl, of course she did, he just wouldn't say it aloud...at least not in front of _these_ people, so he simply shrugged.

_He wears his heart safety-pinned to his backpack_

_His backpack is all that he knows..._

_'The Used?' _Ryoma questioned in his mind, wondering what kind of a twisted DJ was hired (Me :D). 

Then the first slow song played. The girl had a hopeful and apprehensive look about her, and he found it strange. Did she want to dance? He wondered as the male singer sang on.

Even in the dark, he never failed to noticed the looks his date received; glares of jealousy from girls, and looks of appreciation from some guys. He did not like either.

"Ryoma-kun?" she was startled when he grabbed her hand protectively.

He said nothing, just shrugged again as he took her to a table to sit down. Sakuno wondered what he was thinking, and started to question the reason he took her here. Was it just to fend off fangirls? Then, whensecond slow song had ended, her doubt and confusion grew. He had never asked her to dance. Should she ask him then? What if he says no? That would be pretty awkward. Besides, Ryoma wasn't a dancing kind of person, she thought with a light smile. She'd be alright.

After a while, the third slow song played.

Then, the fourth.

Then, the fifth.

Sakuno stayed put, she was just happy to be here, with him; she no longer questioned his motive, it wasn't like she expected him to loved her back or anything. And no longer hoped for him to dance with her. That hope had died down along with the ending notes of that last romantic song.

Ryoma absently watched Kikumaru bounce around everywhere hopped up on sugar, while Oishi ran after him. Time had passed, he wasn't sure if Sakuno was really enjoying herself, his only reassurance being her light smiles once in a while.

"Echizen," Fuji sat on the other side of him, "ask her to dance."

"Eh? But she–"

"If you don't," the prodigy opened his sapphire eyes then, they had a sadistic glint in them, "_I _will."

Ryoma gulped then, he didn't particularly want to find out whether he had two left feet or not. However, when he looked at the girl sometimes, she looked almost...sad. He suddenly realized then that she only smiled during the slow songs, while she watched other couples dance. _Wistful smiles._ She _had _wanted to dance.

"Well?" his teammate questioned.

The DJ announced the final slow song then, so it was now or never. Again. Making up his mind, he stood up without a word.

I'm mapping out my ending

It's never gonna happen now

Sakuno smiled at the couples again, they looked so happy, she thought. That was when she saw a hand extended towards her. She looked up to see its owner–

"Ryoma-kun?"

...These things are condescending

With everybody backing down

He didn't say a thing, just waited. Almost jumping up, the girl slipped her tiny hand into his happily as he pulled her onto the dance floor.

His strong arms snaked around her petite waist as hers timidly wrapped around his neck. They swayed slowly to the music. While both tried not to step on each other's toes.

You prayed to the stars that can help you get by

And all at once you forget to try

The awkwardness gradually went away as they continued to dance, replaced by comfort and content. Slowly, he leaned down so that his perfect lips were right beside her right ear. He didn't say anything, but shivers ran down her spine each time he breathed out, his hot breath tickling her ear. He couldn't have seen it, but her face was getting redder and redder.

...My life is always empty

And in and out of doubt

He didn't know what the hell he was doing. His mind had shut down, slowly intoxicated by the faint and sweet smell of vanilla that fluttered off her hair.

...And I get back to you

As these days run by

But I still lose

He straightened up once again, and Sakuno felt strangely cold as he did. She did not even know how much her heartbeat had quickened before. It was blurry, _he _made it a total blur.

Angels say they can make you suffer

They give and take like a vicious lover

...Awake but still I'm dreaming

And never waking up

He looked at her with half-liddedeyes. He wasn't himself that night, he knew it, but he was with her. His usually sharp eyes were oblivious to the others that surrounded him, he just saw _her._ The prince half-smiled then, he never realized the magnitude of love until now.

...Alone, we're not alone

She looked up at him, and then, she did something that was so un-like her. She stood up on her tip-toes, and kissed him. In the mouth. It wasn't just a peck, as her sweet lips lingered on his.

Alone, we're not alone

She had meant to pull away, but that was no desire of the mischievous boy, as he held her tighter and deepened the kiss. Of course he didn't want to let her go, and any trace of rational thought had gone away when she returned his actions, one of her soft hands running through his hair.

Unfortunately though, breathing was essential to staying alive, they reluctantly pulled away from the kiss. He lowered his head, his forehead pressed against hers. This was _his _night, he thought as he held her. Nothing could ruin it.

Alone, we're not alone

Alone...Alone...

Not even the thought of his idiotic teammates watching, and the ridiculous comments he was sure to receive next Monday.

-

The End.

-

**Note: **"..." in the lyrics mean that I skipped a few lines before it.

So...really hope you think it was worth the wait.

Was Ryoma too OOC by the end? I'm really not sure. I mean, he's like, 16. Could've matured at least a little, right?

Anyways, I can't wait to start my next project! It's Sasuke/Sakura. I know, I know, typical. But still... And I'm already half done the first chapter!

And as always...tell me what you think!

Best wishes.


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